To Tame a Dragon
by FlutteringShadows
Summary: Aislynn Mirasaki is a beautiful, enchanting debutante with a caring nature and Seto Kaiba a handsome CEO with a heart of ice, can she melt his black heart or will it only end in heartache? Rated M for violence and LEMONS
1. The Cat Who Caught the Canary

**Hello everybody! I'm JoBro-Fangirl and I've decided I would try and produce a Yu-Gi-Oh! fanfiction of my own creation. This is going to be a Seto Kaiba x OC pairing because Kaiba happens to be one of my favorite all-time Yu-Gi-Oh! Characters and I've realized that he doesn't really have a definite pairing with anyone, besides the fact that the fan girls always seem to pair him up with Joey, but I'm not really one for yaoi and so this idea was born! Well tell me if you like it, it's my first Yu-Gi-Oh! fanfiction!**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! And as much as I like the show and its characters, I would never be able to think up card battle sequences, hence this story is going to have slim to none. I do not own the song, "Don't Break My Heart" either, Sa-Fire owns it._

To Tame a Dragon

Chapter 1

The Cat Who Caught the Canary

"_**You, you keep on trying, trying to tear me apart;**_

_**And I knew from the very start that you'd;**_

_**You'd steal my heart;**_

_**Because of you I'm crying;**_

_**I never know when you're lying;**_

_**What we have is real;**_

_**You can't hide what you really feel;**_

_**You have my heart;**_

_**You're my dream from the start;**_

_**You know I need you baby;**_

_**You touched my soul;**_

_**Do you want me to go;**_

_**I feel I love you baby;**_

_**So don't break my heart;**_

_**Finish what you started baby;**_

_**Don't break my heart;**_

_**I can't live without you;**_

_**Don't break my heart;**_

_**Our love was so true baby;**_

_**Don't break my heart;**_

_**You, you keep on lying;**_

_**Keep lying that you really care;**_

_**Stop, stop playing these games;**_

_**And show me your love is still there;**_

_**The love, the love I had inside me every day;**_

_**Our love was stronger;**_

_**What we have is real;**_

_**You can't hide what you really feel.**_

_**-Don't Break My Heart; Sa-Fire-**_

The loud, obnoxious banging on her bedroom door was enough to awaken Aislynn Mirasaki from her fitful slumber, causing her to jump in surprise at the loud noise. She laid back on her fluffy pillows, rubbing the sleep from her heavy eyelids, her body trying to coax her back to sleep with thoughts of the warm down-comforter. She sighed in dismay, glancing over at the alarm clock sitting on her night stand. The antique gold-filigree clock read 7:30, a little too early for her tastes, especially after attending an embassy ball the night before from six 'till midnight.

She'd had to attend in her father, Richard Mirasaki's, honor. Her father had once been the prime minister of Japan, an extremely respected official. Many thought him to be naïve because he believed too much in the good of man, but Aislynn believed that that quality was what made him such a special person. He gave his money away to thousands of charities and good wills, at times his fellow businessmen thought his smothering kindness to be rather disgusting. Not only was he skilled in the nature of politics and business, but he knew electronic engineering well. He loved electronic gaming, especially when he got the chance to take Aislynn to the arcades when she was younger and he wasn't so stumped in work. He was one of the youngest prime ministers in the history of Japan and one of the greatest minds of his time.

Four years ago, her father had been on a diplomatic trip to Okinawa to oversee "old" KaibaCorp's selection of military weaponry. Aislynn knew that her father had never been a big fan of warfare, he'd had a heart of gold and would never intentionally hurt anyone, unless of course it was required of him by his country. A sniper, who was obviously hired to assassinate him, shot him in the head while he was on this trip. Her father had stayed behind the group to further examine one of the newest fighter jets, fascinated with the technology used to build the machine. He had played right into the sniper's hands.

Aislynn remembered it to be the absolute worst day of her life. She'd been thirteen at the time, having a tea party with her father's most trusted bodyguard when she heard the anchorwoman of the local news station interrupt her favorite cartoon with:

"_Breaking News here in Okinawa, Japan! Prime Minister Mirasaki was shot and killed earlier today by a sniper hiding in the shadows of a fighter jet on his diplomatic trip to oversee KaibaCorp's military unit. It is believed that Gozuboro Kaiba may be behind the assassination of the Prime Minister, police and military officials are currently looking into this crisis. It is a tragedy and a loss…"_ It was later known from the sniper that he had been trying to assassinate the Prime Minister for months and was hired by someone on the inside. However, the police could never figure out who it was who'd hired the sniper and therefore to this day, he was still a free man.

Aislynn couldn't remember a time where she'd cried so much, not even when her own mother had died when she was six of a bad case of influenza. Then again, when her mother died she had been young, too young to understand. When her mother died she wasn't alone, not nearly as utterly alone as she was after that day. She'd still had her father and she had been naïve enough to think that her mother would wake up again one day and rejoin them so they could be a family again.

Once the woman on the television set disappeared, she'd dropped the glass tea-cup she'd been holding, blankly watching as it crashed to the floor and shattered into a hundred tiny pieces, spilling hot water all over the burgundy-colored carpeting. Hr body shook with mixed emotion, fear that she would be alone for the rest of her life, that nobody could help her, anger over the fact that all the people she'd ever loved had left her alone in the world and the sadness that engulfed her and told her that she'd never see her parents again. In her emotional distress she became distant…silent, until soon the tears refused to fall and she became like ice, numb to the pain and moving throughout life without a purpose. At school she spoke to no one, not even her friends until eventually they left her to deal with her problems alone. She refused to answer questions the teacher asked, the results ending up in detention, and she even ignored the inquiring voices of the people who were paid to protect her.

Eventually, after her father's funeral they decided that at least until she was fifteen, Aislynn needed to be in the protective custody of a legal guardian, once she was fifteen she could decide for herself if she wanted to get an emancipation and take over her father's work. Aislynn had no other family, all of her grandparents were long dead, and the relatives that were alive were estranged from the family and lived in different parts of the world, none of them agreed with how Japan's legal system was run and sure as hell weren't going to take in the Prime Minister's daughter.

Despite all of this, her father's most trusted bodyguard and her full-time protector, agreed to have full, legal custody of her, promising to raise her as not a father, but as a family friend. He told her that he never wanted to take the place of her father, no matter how great an honor it seemed. This man had changed her life forever, he was like a beam of engulfing light within her darkness and with the gentle way he raised her, he coaxed her from her world of shadows and brought her fully into his world of light, erasing her pain, teaching her to forget the bad times and live for the here and now. This man's name was Damien Duvall, and she felt that he was her reason for living. His shout for her to wake up awakened her from her walk down memory lane, causing her to jump again in surprise.

"Hey Aislynn, hurry up and get dressed, I bought tickets to KaibaLand!" Damien called excitedly.

"KaibaLand?" She asked rhetorically. She knew how much Damien liked duel monsters, especially when he kicked her butt. She knew he was an ass-head when he won and that was sort of the reason why she didn't play duel monsters as much as she used to…Now that she thought about it, Damien had been acting pretty strange for the past year, with all of his late nights out alone and his overwhelming assortment of gifts. Not just that, his attitude had changed for the worst, in her opinion. Of course, her father's business partners disagreed, like they always say, you must be cold and ruthless if you want to gain any ground in the real world. He had developed the latter and insulted people whom he didn't like whenever they were invited to a party. She unfortunately had lost many friends in the social circle because of him. Now to make things worse, he had developed a new habit, after staying out all night by himself, he would come home and drink until he was drunk. Aislynn found herself locking her bedroom doors at night.

Damien was still a good guy; it was just harder to see than it was before. He'd grown very self-centered over the years and she supposed that it was because of his suddenly luxurious lifestyle. Before he'd gained custody over her he was nothing, nothing but one of her father's mindless henchmen, in fact, he was still nothing, if it wasn't for her, his rich ward, he would never be recognized in high-class society. Now that she thought of it, after she turned fifteen she'd taken it upon herself to perform some of her father's duties, such as charity work, and had decided not to emancipate herself because she just hadn't had the heart. After that, Damien hadn't really had to do anything. Sometimes Aislynn couldn't help but wonder if he was using her, if all he'd done for her was all just some pathetic scheme to gain himself recognition in the world. She shook her head, ridding herself of her horrible thoughts, it's true that money did terrible things to people and Damien definitely wasn't the same man she'd grown up with, but it wasn't going to ruin her day, she wasn't going to let it.

Aislynn reluctantly threw her bedcovers back and crossed over to the shower room, an enthusiastic spring in her step. She took care of the necessary and reached over to turn on the bathtub facet, all the while catching a glimpse of herself in the bathroom mirror. Her waist-length, thick, ebony hair was unkempt from tossing and turning all night, her usually bright, aquamarine eyes were now underlined with tiny bags from lack of sleep. She sighed; it was going to take forever to get the massive tangles out of her hair, not to mention it was probably going to be excruciatingly painful. Aislynn may have to take longer brushing her hair in the morning because of its length and thickness, but she didn't have to waste time with a curling iron or a straightening iron for her hair was naturally wavy and curly which was just the way she liked it. She finished with her bath, and then crossed to her bedroom to find appropriate city clothes. She and Damien used to go out all the time to amusement parks, but with all of her fancy attire she would always get recognized by paparazzi. So she decided that if she wore clothes that normal Domino City teenagers wore, she wouldn't be recognized as easily. Unfortunately she hadn't been to the mall in a while to purchase any of these types of clothes so most of them didn't fit her or were worn and tattered from overuse. She pulled out her last pair of wearable blue jeans and a lacy white satin tank-top, it was the only thing she owned that looked somewhat like normal teenager attire.

Aislynn finally opened the door to her bedroom to find Damien waiting for her with that snobbish expression that he usually wore on his charming face. The expression that said he was better than her, always one step ahead. _**'When had he changed so suddenly?' **_she wondered, deeply disappointed with his behavior. He used to be so kind, so sweet, so caring. He stared back at her as she closed the bedroom door, leaning up against the wall with two amusement park tickets in his hand. He sighed in frustration,

"Finally, I thought you'd never come out of there." He commented rudely. Aislynn pouted angrily, clamping her mouth shut before it could spout any unnecessary absurdities. She knew if she tried to fight back he would only laugh and tease her, it wasn't like she would really do anything anyway, she was too soft or too weak as Damien so graciously put it. She was never a violent person and she figured that she would probably never be. She didn't like to fight; she only did it when it was deemed necessary, like for example when she had to fight off the paparazzi.

"Well, we'd better get going or we'll be stuck in traffic." He said, taking her hand and leading her down the hall.

* * *

KaibaLand was Japan's newest most popular amusement park. It centered around almost every game imaginable, duel monsters, capsule monsters and other virtual reality games. The worst part about it, for Aislynn was that it was on the complete opposite side of town and took almost two hours to get there.

Aislynn stared out of the tinted windows of the black stretch limo, fiddling with the monstrous diamond engagement ring on her finger. It was a gift she'd received from Damien two years ago at another one of the emperor's embassy balls.

She was fifteen years old, old enough to finally take over her father's duties and attend political meetings in his place. And if she chose she could have emancipated herself from Damien and handled the rest herself. She was dressed in pastel pink silk, an off the shoulder gown that clung to her perfectly slim figure and emphasized the swell of her bosom. Baubles of gold and silver adorned her delicate ivory skin, giving it the illusion of a sun-kissed glow. Her midnight-black hair was carefully pinned to the top of her head, adorned with matching gold pins. She was attending with Damien, then her guardian of two years. He brought her outside to the balcony after dinner where there was a clear view of the dazzling night sky. He surprised her by slipping the monstrosity of a diamond onto her finger. The jewel was a cluster of diamonds all cut together to form a giant jagged mass of crystal. She remembered gasping in surprise at the beauty of the enormous diamond, unable to speak. He'd lifted her hand to his lips and gazed into her bright aquamarine eyes with his magnificent amber ones and made the promise that he would marry her one day when she had grown up for him, when she was ready.

Even now, sitting next to him two years later, she couldn't help but blush and yet she felt incredibly guilty. She'd promised herself that she wouldn't let him down and that someday she would fulfill her promise and become his bride. Two years had gone by since then and her eighteenth birthday was rapidly approaching and she realized that she really didn't know if this was what she wanted anymore.

When she was younger she used to look up into his handsome, tanned visage and her heart would flutter uncontrollably, her eyes filled with love. When she looked at him now, she felt utter loathing and a slight shiver of fear, something she'd often wondered about. _**'Should I be afraid of the one I love?'**_ she thought in confusion. Did she love him anymore? Her thoughts were interrupted by Damien literally dragging her out of the limousine door.

"Hey!" she protested, "I could have gotten out myself thank-you." She said when he placed her on the sidewalk. He chuckled,

"I wasn't sure, you seemed to be lost in your own thoughts, I called your name like five times."

"Really? I'm sorry." She apologized.

"Who cares? I reserved us a duel monsters platform, come on let's go check it out!" He exclaimed like an eager little boy, running ahead of her. She sighed, running to catch up with him.

"Hey wait up!"

Damien led them through most of the theme park and Aislynn caught only glimpses of other gaming arenas, until they passed the newest edition to the park, Death-T. She stopped in her tracks to gaze at the menacing-looking tower, marveling at its size.

"Hello!?" Damien called running back to her, "What's up? I've already got us a gaming arena set up."

"Damien, what's Death-T?" Damien laughed,

"Only the most challenging gaming arena here at KaibaLand. I don't think you'd be interested, you might break a nail princess." Aislynn glared at him and crossed her arms,

"How would you know? You've never taken me to an arcade." Damien snickered unbelievingly,

"Trust me my little lamb, you wouldn't last five minutes in Death-T and that's the truth. It requires, no more like demands, physical strength, smarts and common sense."

"And you think that I have none of those things?" She inquired, extremely irritated,

"No, it's more like I don't want to see my little lamb get hurt." He said, putting an arm around her shoulders, "Now come on, let's go play duel monsters!" He ran ahead again and Aislynn groaned with exhaustion, rolling her eyes.

The dueling arena they reserved was like all the others, so it was really nothing special, the only thing that Aislynn disliked was the fact that she'd be playing her cards in front of at least five cameras and that the duel would be broadcasted in front of the thousands of tourists at KaibaLand. She shrugged; she would just have to deal with it.

"Heh heh, you ready to get your ass whooped?" Damien laughed.

"No, but I know someone else who's getting his ass whooped." She smirked.

"Ha, in your dreams Aislynn, do I have to remind you that I'm the better duelist?" She glared at him,

"Humph, we'll see…"

"Let's Duel!" They shouted in sync.

* * *

Seto Kaiba sighed with boredom as he tried to keep himself awake as the park manager went over the report concerning the running order of the roller coasters and the dueling arenas. The idiot had been rambling for nearly an hour now, putting way too much detail into his report as his eyes flicked nervously back and forth from the floor to the fearsome CEO.

"Just get to the point already." He growled, causing the manager to sweat with a nervous fever. Just as the man was about to finish his report, a lower worker burst through the door.

"Mr. Kaiba! Sir I think you might wanna come down here and see this!" The young man panted, his trashy clothes hinting at the fact that he was one of the mechanics.

"What is this? What do I need to see? If it's a duel I'm not interested, not unless they're foolish enough to take my Death-T challenge." Kaiba inquired, only willing to attend to the necessary then get out. Mokuba sat nearby, reading some comic book he picked up earlier that day.

"No, i-it's nothing like that sir, it's just that, one of the duel arenas are acting up, I think that somebody is tampering with our satellites." Kaiba's usual icy glare turned into a dangerous glower as he heard these words.

"What! Who is it?" Kaiba demanded, following the younger worker downstairs to see what all the commotion was about. The worker showed him camera footage of an ongoing duel between an young ebony-haired girl about his age and an older man in his late twenties with longish bright bleach blonde hair tied back in a queue. By the looks of things the girl seemed to be losing dramatically, her monsters were being destroyed no matter what she did, there could only be one explanation, the man she was dueling had tampered with their satellites. Kaiba walked back upstairs with an angry glower still planted on his face. He tugged his brother with him as he left to deal with the problem.

"Come on Mokuba, let's go show that snake what happens when he cheats at my park." He growled, walking briskly through his dragon-themed amusement park.

"Okay! You're gonna teach him a lesson, right Seto?" Mokuba asked enthusiastically. Seto smirked evilly,

"Don't worry Mokuba, I'll teach him a lesson he won't soon forget."

* * *

Hey everybody! Woot, I finally finished chapter one! I'm sorry to say that there isn't much Seto and Mokuba in there but not to worry, there will be plenty more of them in the next chapter! :D If you are wondering what Death-T is, it is an attraction at KaibaLand that only appeared in season 0 of the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime. Feel free to PM me if you want to know more about it. And I really want to know your opinions on Aislynn too like for instance, is she too perfect? I feel like I made her a little too _nice_ for Kaiba, but then again you guys haven't really read much about her yet, so I guess that it's too early to make assumptions at this time. Anyway, feel free to read and review, it does your heart good when you do! X3 And incase I don't update anything before then, I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!


	2. Amusement Park Humiliation

**Hey guys, JoBro-Fangirl here with chapter two! Anyway I said at the beginning of my first chapter that I wasn't going to have very many duels in my fic and what do you know, I basically start off the story with one! This chapter is going to have a lot of games in it, but if you like the games in the show, then you should have no problem with it! Now I really thought that the song I chose really fit Kaiba, but I found myself reading through it a second time and realizing that it also fit Damien in some ways, feel free to tell me your opinion! And I mostly used this song because my mind was blank when it came to finding songs for this chapter and all the other ones I tried didn't exactly fit like I hoped they would…**

_Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Yu-Gi-Oh! Nor do I own the song, Ahead of the Game from the Yu-Gi-Oh Music to Duel By soundtrack. The only things I own are my own original characters and the plot of my story._

Chapter 2

Amusement Park Humiliation

_**Not so fast! **_

_**You think you've won?**_

_**I'm here to say;**_

_**We're far from done.**_

_**Just you wait,**_

_**Then you'll see.**_

_**The games not over,**_

_**It's up to me.**_

'_**Cause I am ahead of the game,**_

_**And nothing will be the same!**_

_**I create the games we play,**_

_**Every detail is mine to say.**_

_**You might have luck,**_

_**You might have skill,**_

_**But when you lose,**_

_**You'll say that I have the will.**_

'_**Cause I am ahead of the game,**_

_**And nothing will be the same!**_

_**All my technology,**_

_**All my smarts,**_

_**My creativity,**_

_**Will rip you apart!**_

_**My liquidity,**_

_**A giant fell on his cheek**_

_**All my secrets **_

_**Hey I'll be on your cheek.**_

'_**Cause I am ahead of the game,**_

_**(when we're standing face to face)**_

_**And nothing will be the same!**_

_**(when I put you in your place)**_

'_**Cause I am ahead of the game,**_

_**(every detail on my mind)**_

_**And nothing will be the same!**_

_**(If you lay it on the line)**_

_**Cause I am ahead of the game,**_

_**And nothing will be the same!**_

_**(Oh when I put you in your place)**_

_**Cause I am ahead of the game,**_

_**And nothing will be the same!**_

_**Cause I am ahead of the game.**_

_**-Ahead of the Game; Yu-Gi-Oh: Music to Duel By soundtrack-**_

Aislynn stared down at the cards in her hand, sweat beading at the top of her forehead in frustration at how the duel was going. Once again, Damien had her backed up in a corner, but this time with no way out. She was down to her last 400 life points and miraculously, besides the fact that she had drawn the stronger monsters, Damien seemed to be able to defeat all of them with his weaker ones, something that made absolutely no sense. She had pointed it out to him earlier and demanded to know what was going on; he'd only smirked and told her that it was a secret.

She found herself glancing over at his side of the field several times, but he had no face down cards and had not put any down since the beginning of the duel. She was becoming suspicious of his motives, had he rigged the game just so he could win?

Earlier, after the start of the duel, they had made a bet that whoever lost would comply to the victor's wishes, no questions asked. She was sorely beginning to think that accepting his bet was a genuine mistake.

"What's wrong Aislynn? Giving up so soon?" Damien taunted.

"You should know after all of these years of taking care of me that I don't give up this easily!" She shouted, taking another card from her hand. The duel raged on for one last turn, in which Damien turned her 400 life points into 0 life points. Aislynn hung her head in defeat.

"I don't understand, I had the stronger cards, there's something you're hiding Damien and I want to know what it is!" she demanded.

"Tsk, tsk, come on now dear no one likes a sore loser." Damien teased, scolding her. They met at the bottom of the dueling platform, Aislynn's eyes afire with anger.

"You did something didn't you? There was no way you could've won with the cards you chose!"

"I did nothing my little lamb; you're just going to have to accept that you've lost. Now about our bet…" Just as he was about to make his demands, a few gasps were heard nearby, followed by shouts saying,

"It's Seto Kaiba!" Sure enough the icy CEO waltzed right through the door to their arena.

"S-Seto Kaiba!" Damien stuttered fearfully at the sight of the sharp-eyed child billionaire.

* * *

He arrived just after the duel had ended, smirking at the tourists who had enough sense to move out of his way. Seto Kaiba glared at the cheating filth in front of him, the one person who was dumb enough to hack into his computer systems all so he could win one measly card game. It wasn't like he was facing a regional finalist or anything, so why would he go through the trouble of hacking into his satellites to win a pointless duel?

"S-Seto Kaiba!" The fair-haired man stuttered fearfully. Kaiba chuckled at the man's insolence,

"Yes, I came all the way down here because I am of a mind to believe that you've been hacking into my satellite systems." He explained anger heavy in his voice. The ebony-haired beauty standing beside the man placed her hands on her hips, glaring at the fair-haired man.

"Oh really? So that's why he won." The man looked back at her as if he had no idea what Kaiba was talking about.

"Oh come on Aislynn, you really think that I would do all that just to prove that I'm better than you?" She stared at him unbelievingly,

"Yes, I do." She replied simply, "I think you've found the man who's been messing with your satellites Mr. Kaiba. Believe me, as long as I've known him, I wouldn't put it past him." She said snidely, nose turned up in contempt.

"Really?" Kaiba smirked, "I wouldn't have guessed. But instead of handing you over to the authorities' maybe you can redeem yourself by challenging me to duel monsters. I haven't played in a while so I assume it should be quite easy for you to defeat me. I mean if you're half the duelist you say you are…" Kaiba taunted, presenting a challenge. Aislynn glared back at the fair-haired man,

"Go on, like he says if you're such a fantastic duelist then you should win no problem!" Aislynn crowed testily. The man gritted his teeth angrily and narrowed his eyes into a challenging glare,

"You're on Kaiba! I'll beat you and prove that I don't need to malfunction a satellite to be a great duelist!" Kaiba chuckled in disbelief,

"So, you finally admit it…fine then, prepare to be very disappointed." He muttered before climbing up onto the gaming platform and removing his deck from the inside of his stark white trench coat, "By the way, what's your name? It's not like it's going to matter once I defeat you but I would like to know who's spirits I'm going to be crushing."

"It's Damien, Damien Duvall."

"Humph, well Duvall I just want to let you know that I hate sore losers, but I hate cheaters even more and that because you cheated in the last duel I'm definitely not going to go easy on you!" They both drew their hands and shouted in sync,

"Let's duel!"

* * *

Aislynn took a seat in the stands, silently watching as the duel progressed. So far, Damien was losing horribly. Kaiba had played out his infamous crush card virus strategy, so now Damien couldn't summon any monsters with 1500 or more attack strength without them being destroyed. She almost wanted to laugh, it was only the third turn and her fiance, who claimed to be a top duelist, was already losing. A younger, doe-eyed child with long ebony hair took a seat next to her then, a determined look planted on his adorable face.

"Don't worry, my brother's gonna beat that cheater and kick him out of our park! My brother's one of the world's best you know!" The boy boasted. Aislynn smiled, thinking him to be immensely cute. She was almost unable to stop herself from hugging him like one of her stuffed animals.

"I hope he beats him, otherwise I'm going to have to walk around the park with him bragging about how he beat a world champion duelist." Kaiba overheard her talking and smirked,

"Humph, it's not likely that that's going to happen, unless he has something in that deck that's actually worth using!" The younger boy beside her laughed at his older brother's snide comment, then turned around and introduced himself.

"Hey, what's your name? My name's Mokuba!" Aislynn smiled widely,

"Well hi there Mokuba, my name's Aislynn."

"Aislynn huh? That's a pretty name, whoa that thing is huge!" He exclaimed, gesturing to the giant diamond on her left hand, "Is that a wedding ring?" Aislynn twisted the enormous ring off her finger so she could show it to him,

"Well, sort of, it's supposed to be an engagement ring, but I think of it as more of a promise ring. It reminds me of the promise Damien and I formed two years ago, that when I grew up, we would get married." Mokuba raised an eyebrow, looking back and forth between Aislynn and Damien.

"You're gonna marry that jerk?" Aislynn looked at him, a little ashamed of herself as she looked back down at the jagged diamond in the encasing gold band. Those exact same words had been floating around in her mind for the past few months, why hadn't she left him yet? Was it because she still loved him? Or was it because she was afraid of him? Mokuba looked apologetic after a few minutes of silence.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that, it wasn't very nice of me." Aislynn took the ring and placed it back on her finger, "Anyways, how old are you? Cause my brother's eighteen and he's available if you ever break up with your boyfriend!" Aislynn giggled at Mokuba's eagerness to hook her up with his brother.

"Well then I'm afraid he's too old for me, sorry but I'm only seventeen." She smiled apologetically. Mokuba's face fell,

"Aww man, oh well, I guess maybe when you're older." She chuckled unbelievingly,

"Huh, yeah maybe." Aislynn turned her attention back toward the duel, looking up at her fiance's challenger, Seto Kaiba. Seto Kaiba...she'd only met him face to face once. It was only about a year ago at the presentation of his new duel disk system. Her and Damien attended with the rest of the high society snobs, she had exchanged a few words with Kaiba but they hadn't introduced themselves, probably because of the fact that they basically already knew each other through the media. If her guess was correct, he probably didn't recognize her or Damien without all of their fancy attire. Judging from the things she'd heard through the media and her rich friends, Seto Kaiba was a child billionaire with a heart of ice and a determination to win at all costs. In fact, the few words he had said to her had been extremely rude, though she supposed that she was so shocked at the time that she had forgotten exactly what he had said to her.

Although, he was currently rescuing her from having to comply with Damien's wishes under false winnings, and he also had a brother who seemed to think he was the greatest thing in the world. But then again, he was only fighting this duel because Damien had to be an asshole and hack into Kaiba's satellite systems. If it were anything else she doubted Kaiba would even give a damn.

* * *

Duvall was a poor duelist, just as Kaiba had suspected. He hadn't even been able to form any good combo attacks with his magic cards and was already down to his last 200 life points. The crush card virus Kaiba had used had effectively lowered Damien's chances of winning and as Kaiba drew his next card, he knew without a doubt that it was all over for his opponent.

"Now I summon the Blue Eyes White Dragon!!!" He shouted as the magnificent creature acknowledged it's appearance with it's signature battle roar. "Now my beast destroy his last monster and his remaining life points!" Kaiba shouted, the room reverberating with the commanding power in his voice.

Mokuba and Aislynn watched as the rest of Damien's life points were wiped out by the blue eyes' signature white lightning attack. The image of the powerful dragon was both frightening as it was beautiful and Aislynn stared in awe and fascination at the mighty beast centered on the playing field. In an instant the image of the magnificent creature vanished as the card was placed back into Kaiba's deck.

"Humph, I won, no surprise there, though I hoped you would put up some sort of a fight, I was wrong. Now get out of my park, amateur!" Damien was more than ready to comply with Kaiba's wishes, taking hold of Aislynn's wrist and trying to lead her out of the park.

"Come on Aislynn, let's go, he told us to get out remember? And besides, you still need to pay your dues for our bet." He smirked, dragging her through the park. Aislynn stopped in her tracks, unwilling to let Damien lead her any farther, "Hey what's wrong? He told us to leave sweetheart." She shook her head and glared at him angrily, thinking Mokuba was right, what was she doing with this jerk?

"No, I believe he told **_you_** to leave, and besides you cheated in that duel remember? And because you cheated our bet was immediately called off!"

"Yeah yeah whatever, just come on, we're leaving!" She finally pulled away from him, still glaring at him with eyes full of contempt.

"No, I'm not going with you, I'd rather be lost in this park than go home with you!" She shouted. Damien turned around, his own amber eyes full of loathing.

"No?" He asked, Aislynn's eyes flickered with fear of what he was capable of doing to her. Just as he was about to drag her out by force KaibaLand security stepped in and grabbed him from behind, nearly tearing his clothes as Damien struggled to get away from their painful hold. He glared back at Aislynn with eyes full of malice, muttering so only she could hear,

"You'll regret this my little lamb..." Aislynn bowed her head and sighed with relief,

_**'What am I supposed to do now? It's not like I brought anyone else with me...' **_Just then Aislynn was tapped on the shoulder from behind. She turned around and her face lit up when she realized it was Mokuba.

"Aislynn are you okay? Me and my brother saw everything, we thought he was going to hurt you so my brother called security." Her eyes widened as she looked over at the older Kaiba, leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed. Seto Kaiba, the person whom everyone called cruel and unjust rescued someone like her?"Anyway, I noticed you were all alone now that your boyfriend left and well since I don't have anything to do today I was wondering if you wanted to play with me!" Mokuba exclaimed excitedly with a huge grin on his adorable face. She smiled back, unable to do anything else,

"Sure, I'll play with you! I was kind of hoping someone would show me around, I think that I'm lost..." Mokuba giggled excitedly,

"Alright! Come with me, I have a game we can play! I'll show you around the rest of the park later!" Mokuba took hold of her hand, pulling her toward their next destination. Seto started to walk away, dreading the fact that he was returning to work,

"Mokuba, I'm heading back to KaibaCorp, call me there if you need me."

"Alright bro see ya later!" Just as he was about to leave, Aislynn stopped in her tracks,

"Mr. Kaiba wait!" She called. He stopped turning around to face her.

"What is it? I'm very busy." She blushed, intimidated by him,

"Um, I just wanted to say...thank-you." He stared at her looking into her eyes of bright aquamarine. They were gentle, with hints of fear and remorse, they stirred within him some instinctual need to hold her close and protect her. She stared back into his eyes of stormy cerulean blue. They always seemed so sharp with anger as well as cold and unfeeling. It was almost as if his past endeavors had caused him to be numb to his emotions. He finally broke her stare and walked away without a word, leaving her confused with her new found want to know what had happened to him to make him so cold and heartless. A forceful tug on her right arm was enough to pull her out of her thoughts and back to reality.

"Come on Aislynn, this way!" She giggled at the twelve-year-old's enthusiasm,

"Okay, I'm coming!"

* * *

Seto Kaiba returned to his work at KaibaCorp, unable to keep his mind off of the events at KaibaLand. Those beautiful eyes of aquamarine, they were almost the exact color of his favorite dragon. He could have sworn that he'd seen that girl somewhere before, but he couldn't think of where. She wasn't one of Yugi's cheerleaders, or else he would have recognized her immediately and not even given her a second glance. Was she famous? Had he met her at a rich party sometime in his life? No...she was dressed way too casually there is no way she'd be related to any of those snobs. He knew that high class society liked to dress their best, if she was within that group, she wouldn't have been caught dead wearing jeans. And she was way too nice, all the rich snobs he'd met in his life had been too involved with themselves to care about anything else, let alone babysit his little brother... But she had to be someone, she was too great a beauty to be a middle-class citizen. She had perfect, lily-white skin, which meant that she didn't go out in the sun very often, therefore she must be home schooled or attend a private school-

Kaiba shook his head, why was he daydreaming about some girl when he should be getting his work done!? He really didn't want another all-nighter, he had pulled one the night before and still hadn't gotten any rest, unless he had plenty of coffee, he doubted that he'd make it through another night with no rest. He shook her from his mind and went back to work, his fingers typing madly across the keyboard. He would just block her out with piles of work and gallons of coffee, just like he did everything else.

* * *

Mokuba had taught Aislynn how to play Capsule Monsters or Capumon as it was also known. Capsule Monsters Chess was like duel monsters in the form of a chess game. Mokuba taught her that the monster levels ranged from one to five and that if you have great strategic skills even the weakest of monsters can win you the game. Little did she know, she was facing a master capsule player, something she didn't figure out until Mokuba told her after she was defeated three times.

"Wait a second, you're a capumon world champion?" Aislynn asked, astonished. Mokuba scratched his head guiltily,

"Yeah...I was afraid if I told you, since you haven't played before, that you wouldn't play with me." He said sadly.

"Aww, I still would've played, how could I pass up the chance to kick the butt of a world champion?" She and Mokuba laughed together at her last statement.

"I don't think you'll be able to beat me yet, sorry Aislynn, but you kind of suck at this game. You need more practice." He snickered and she pouted, pretending to be angry.

"Hey, this is my first time playing, of course I suck, I hate chess, there's too much strategy involved." Mokuba got up and helped Aislynn to her feet.

"I'm sorry, let's go do something else then!" Mokuba grabbed her arm again and led her around the park. He wanted to buy ice cream and laughed when Aislynn insist she pay for it, saying that they can get it for free since he and his brother owned the place. He led her around the park where they rode almost all the rides and played the majority of the games until closing time. But for some reason, Mokuba had always avoided Death-T. She tried to get him to go in with her, but he refused and always avoided telling her what was in there when she asked about it. She was more than curious, but just didn't have the energy to explore it any further.

_**'Maybe some other time...'**_ She thought wearily as she climbed into the limousine she called earlier to come and pick her up. She waved goodbye to Mokuba through the tinted windows and then faced forward, dreading the moment when she would have to face Damien back at home. He was always so scary when he got angry, he had never hurt her or anything, he was just very violent with his words, he'd say things that would leave you scarred for months and make you feel extremely guilty and it was usually over something minor or ridiculous. But this time, Aislynn wasn't going to stand for it, he could scream at her all he wanted, his reign of terror was at it's end.

* * *

Hi everybody and happy holidays! I'm so glad that I was able to finish this before the end of December! There was plenty of Mokuba in this chapter for those of you who adore the younger Kaiba, and even some glorious Kaiba banter! For those of you who don't really like the card game part of the show I apologize, I tried to make the game sequences as short as possible because I'm kind of bad at making them up! -_- Anyway thanks to all of you who are reading this and happy holidays! And remember, the best gift you can give someone this year is a review! XD


	3. Sink or Swim

Hello again, I'm back with another update, yay! This chapter is where the mature rating finally comes into play; remember I've rated it mature for a reason. This chapter isn't too bad, I'm really only warning you for harsh language, abusive behavior, and some perverseness. If you no like, you no read. Anyway, this chapter is basically for you sadists out there, (I know there are a lot of you). -_-

_Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! If I did my characters would appear in the show as well. At this point, everything I own comes down to Damien, Aislynn, Aislynn's family, and political officials I mention (That's right Damien, I own your ass…). And neither do I own the song, Time for Me to Fly, that belongs to Reo Speedwagon._

Chapter 3

Sink or Swim

_**I've been around for you;**_

_**Been up and down for you;**_

_**But, I just can't get any relief;**_

_**I've swallowed my pride for you;**_

_**Lived and lied for you;**_

_**But, you still make me feel like a thief;**_

_**You got me stealing your love away 'cause you never give it;**_

_**Peeling the years away, and we can't relive it;**_

_**Oh, I make you laugh, and baby you make me cry;**_

_**I believe it's time for me to fly;**_

_**You said we'd work it out;**_

_**You said that you had no doubt that deep down we were really in love;**_

_**Oh, but I'm tired of holding on to a feeling I know is gone;**_

_**I do believe that I've had enough;**_

_**I've had enough of the falseness of a worn out relation;**_

_**Enough of the jealousy and the intoleration;**_

_**Oh, I make you laugh and you make me cry;**_

_**I believe it's time for me to fly;**_

_**Time for me to fly;**_

_**Oh, I've got to set myself free;**_

_**Time for me to fly;**_

_**That's just how it's got to be;**_

_**I know it hurts to say goodbye, but it's time for me to fly;**_

_**(Oh, don't you know that it's…)**_

_**Time for me to fly;**_

_**Oh, I've got to set myself free;**_

_**Time for me to fly;**_

_**Oh, baby, that's just how it's got to be;**_

_**Oh I know it hurts to say goodbye, but it's time for me to fly;**_

_**Fly;**_

_**It's time for me to fly.**_

_**-Time for Me to Fly; Reo Speedwagon-**_

Aislynn stared out at the foreboding darkness of the moving scenery. The clouds above them were black and promised heavy rainfall, but to her it felt as if Damien's anger was turning the purple twilight skies a dark, stormy gray. A sickening feeling of dread formed in the pit of her stomach of what she was going to face back at home and she wished the ground would do her a favor and just swallow her up as they reached the gates of her mansion.

She got out on her own, not waiting for the doorman to open the door for her. She ran up the marble steps and came nervously to a stop before the large double doors of black oak. She gripped the frigid handle of polished brass and pushed, letting herself inside. She crossed the threshold and stepped further into the foyer, her black boots clacking loudly over her reflection on the elegant marble floor. The rest of the house was dark and nothing could be seen beyond the shadows. The only light in the room came from the candelabra on the walls. A chill ran up her spine at the creepiness of the atmosphere.

A large silhouette appeared in the shadows of the sitting room. Lightning struck, illuminating the room to reveal Damien's angry smirk.

"Well hello there my little lamb." The words rolled from his lips with a practiced velvet seduction to them that made Aislynn shiver. Whether it was from fear or arousal she didn't know. He grinned at her evilly and she was reminded of a rabid wolf before its prey.

"That's not going to work on me." She said unwaveringly, taking a deep breath to calm her beating heart. His smile disappeared to be replaced by a frightening scowl.

"What's not going to work on you?" He asked, almost daring her to answer him. She glared back at him, trying as hard as she could not to be afraid of him.

"That bullshit you do to try and frighten me so that I won't challenge your power over me."

"Bullshit eh? You would have never learned your place if I hadn't shown you a little discipline. You would have turned out like every other rich girl in the world…a spoiled bitch!" He shouted, roughly grasping her delicate chin in his hand to emphasize the last three words. She broke away from his hold, rubbing her now aching chin.

"Well I think that it's wrong of you to "discipline" me, you have no right!" She shouted back, shaking her head passionately in denial.

"I have no right?" He asked, glaring back into her eyes with his malicious amber ones, "You've forgotten that I own you, you're mine, we made a promise remember?" He smirked, snatching her left hand into his to remind her of the monstrous diamond. She grunted as she pulled her arm from his grasp.

"Well guess what Damien, our promise is now void!" She screamed, tearing the diamond off her finger and throwing it out of one of the open windows, the rain spraying her as it splashed against the windowsill. Just as she was staring out the window she was roughly turned around and her face met with the back of Damien's hand. She cried out painfully, tears forming in the aqua depths of her eyes. She was stunned, sitting on her knees in front of him, holding her burning cheek.

"That was for making me look like a fool this morning you little bitch." He muttered angrily. Finally regaining her wits, she glared up at him, blood running from the fresh cut on her lip.

"Don't you dare say that! It wasn't my fault that you cheated or the fact that you're nothing but a leech, draining every last drop of pride and courage from my soul!" She got to her feet, suddenly feeling a whole lot braver, "I should have emancipated myself from your possessive embrace the day I turned fifteen, you never cared about me, all you wanted was my money!" She cried out through angry tears. His face was filled with anger and he was tired of hearing her spout her emotional bullshit. He grabbed her roughly by the arm and dragged her toward her bedroom. He opened the door and tried to shove her inside but she grabbed the door frame and resisted his attempts to close the door on her. She spit blood in his face and he grabbed her long midnight-black hair, making her scream out in pain as he pulled, causing her to lose her hold on the door frame. He flung her by her hair into the room, causing her to lose her footing and fall face first on the soft carpeting.

She tried getting back up and fell back down to her knees again, knowing that she'd never be able to fight him off. He stood in the doorway, laughing at her, his bleach blonde hair had come undone in their skirmish and hung unkempt around his tanned, muscular visage, adding to the effect of his wild amber gaze. His eyes raked her form almost degradingly, his body gaining both thrill and arousal at the sight of her submissive form. The sight of blood dripping from her full lips and staining the breast of her white blouse causing him to lick his lips in approval. Tears ran down her face at the sight of him and the realization of what he'd done to her. She didn't like the way he was looking at her, she didn't trust him.

He looked the way a predator does when it sees something it wants to devour. The anger in her aqua eyes turned to fear and she backed away from him until she hit the edge of her bed, pulling her legs up to her chest, fearing what he was about to do.

Satisfied with her reaction, Damien smirked, his eyes still glazed over with desire.

"Don't worry Aislynn; I'm not going to take your innocence, what use would it be to me unless we were married?"

"I'll never marry you!" She shouted through her tears. He chuckled,

"Oh, I think you'll change your tune soon enough. You know, there are always worse things I could do to you than what I've done tonight." He raked her body with his gaze again, emphasizing his point. He turned around to shut the door and leave her alone,

"Alright my little lamb, sleep well! We've got a lot of wedding plans to make tomorrow!" He shouted joyfully as he slammed her bedroom door and locked it behind him. She sat on the floor in front of her bed for a number of minutes, doing nothing but staring at the door and reflecting on what Damien had done to her and then just brushed off like it was nothing.

Well, she knew one thing for sure; she definitely wasn't going to marry this bastard.

'_**So, the Damien I knew really is gone…Well then I guess I have no choice, I must rid myself of him before he marries me. But I'm so scared that I can barely breathe and there's no way that I'll be able to break down that door, I'm not superwoman...'**_

Then an idea sprouted in her head, she could climb out the window and onto the weeping willow that grew just outside her bedroom window! She gingerly picked herself off the floor and ran over to her window, hurriedly opening the lacey-white curtains and throwing back the glass paned windows. She looked down and noticed that she was pretty accurate when it came to the closeness of her window to the tree. She ran back into her bedroom and grabbed her small blue backpack filling it with her school uniform and extra under things. She didn't know how long she'd be wandering the streets and didn't want to be caught without fresh underwear. She zipped it up and hoisted it over her shoulders.

Then she began her descent from the third-story window. She jumped out into the pouring rain and landed in the tree, nearly slipping from its branches as they were slippery because of the rainfall. She slid down the last branch and onto the wet lawn, cursing under her breath as she landed in a muddy puddle. She ran into the darkness of the night under the pouring rain and climbed over the stone wall that encircled her yard, looking back at the house one last time before dropping down to the other side.

* * *

Damien sat back in his red velvet wing chair, staring mindlessly at some soap opera on the television. He wasn't even really paying attention; he was too busy thinking of his wedding night with Aislynn, what he would do to her. He would make her pay for challenging him with her body. Whether she wanted it or not, she was going to get fucked. He would do anything in his power to have that beautiful body underneath him whether it was writhing in pain or in pleasure he didn't care. He'd waited two years too long for her to come to her senses and finally agree to marry him. But now he was at the point where he didn't really care anymore, even if he had to use violence, he was going to have her, no matter what. Speaking of violence, he had really done a number tonight hitting her in the face like that. There was no doubt; there would definitely be a mark there by tomorrow morning. He probably shouldn't have done that, but no matter, he'd just leave her in her room until the bruise faded. Meanwhile, he'd shower her with gifts and make her feel loved. She'd forgive him, all of his women did. They all knew he was well-endowed and knew exactly how to please them. Damien smirked at the thought and twirled the small gold key to her bedroom around in his fingers, already tasting that silken skin and that endless fortune.

* * *

Aislynn walked down the streets of Domino city in the pouring rain, soaked to the skin and shivering from the cold of the night. She ran over in her head options on who could or would take her in. The only one she could think of was her best friend and only real friend, Andy Smith, a female American transfer student from Miami, Florida. Andy lived in the dormitories of the all-girl school they attended, Black Rose Academy which was very strict about no slumber parties, so she doubted that she'd be able to stay with her. She sighed in despair and was about to give up hope when she spotted the Kame Game Shop still open with all of its lights on. She ran towards it and threw open the front door. She grabbed the mass of her hair and rung it out, creating a puddle on the floor. She released the midnight locks from her grasp and shook her head, raindrops flying everywhere. There were only two other people in the game shop and she looked up in surprise at them staring at her.

"Oh, excuse me! I'm sorry I'm such a mess I made a puddle on your floor!" She exclaimed in distress, "I just came in to get shelter from the rain, I won't stay long, I promise!" The elderly man at the desk came around and pointed her to the back of the shop,

"The restroom is in the back if you're interested, I thought you might like to go clean yourself up." She bowed in gratitude,

"Thank-you for your kindness sir." She smiled gratefully as she ran into the restroom and closed the door behind her. She slipped on the linoleum floor and caught herself on the porcelain sink, nearly injuring her head upon it. She looked up at her reflection in the mirror, her hair and clothes were sopping wet. She immediately covered herself with her arms when she noticed that her breasts were showing through the now transparent material. She opened the door looking for the elderly man but instead found a young boy with spiky multicolored hair instead.

"Um, excuse me, little boy, can you get me a towel? My T-shirt has become a little translucent." She laughed nervously, her face turning red with embarrassment. The boy looked at her, a little offended by the fact that she thought he was in grade school, but seeing as she was a pretty girl in distress, he put his feelings aside. He nodded his head,

"Okay, I'll go get you a towel, be down in a sec!" He assured her, rushing upstairs to the bathroom there. He came back a few moments later with a clean white towel and she bowed in gratitude,

"Thank-you very much." She said, taking it back into the restroom with her. She proceeded to dry herself off and noticed that her cheek was swollen where Damien had hit her earlier that night. It hadn't bruised yet, but it was pretty red. Luckily because of the cold weather, both of her cheeks were rosy red and therefore it was difficult to even tell that her cheek was swollen. She wrapped the white towel around her torso and walked out of the restroom. The spiky-haired boy was waiting for her to finish. He held out his hand to introduce himself,

"Hi there, my name's Yugi, what's yours?" The boy was positively adorable and as she took his hand she said,

"My name's Aislynn and I'm very pleased to meet you Yugi." She smiled. He smiled back,

"You know you don't have to talk down to me, I'm in my last year of high school after all…" Aislynn's eyes widened in disbelief,

"Wha? Really!? You're in high school!?" Yugi just nodded his head,

"Yeah, what year are you in? Or have you already finished high school?"

"I-I'm in the same grade!" She exclaimed, still unable to believe he was in high school.

"Really? Do we go to the same school? If so, I've never seen you before." Yugi asked. Aislynn laughed,

"Oh no, I go to Black Rose Academy, that's why you've never seen me before."

"Ah, Black Rose Academy, all the really pretty girls go to that school…" He said, emphasizing the fact that she was pretty. She blushed, laughing a little. The elderly man she saw earlier came back downstairs.

"Alright Yugi it's time to close shop for the night!"

"Okay grandpa!" He turned back to Aislynn, "It was nice meeting you Aislynn, and have a safe trip home!" He said as he took the towel from her and led her out the front door.

As the door shut behind her she sighed at little Yugi's words,

"Home? Where's that?" She muttered as she set out again into the dark, rainy night.

* * *

Wow, that chapter was hectic and so dramatic! Anyway, I decided that I just had to finish this before the New Year, I really didn't want to start off the new year with a wife-beater chapter, that might spell out bad luck for me…=[ Anyway, everyone have a Happy New Year and I hope that you all enjoyed this depressing chapter. And remember to review, it's only a button click away and you can make someone happy with the words you say! XD


	4. Reluctant Hospitality

Hey there folks, now before I begin, I know that the song I chose doesn't really fit the chapter in some aspects, but it was the only song that I could find that really fit this chapter well. And judging by the song you can pretty much assume that there is some perverseness going on here and trust me, there will be. Anyway, this chapter and the last one are shorter than the first two, but I promise that the chapters will eventually get longer and longer and may even exceed the first two chapters' word limit of nearly 5,000.

_Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! and probably never will…The only things I own are the plot and my original characters. The song doesn't belong to me either; "Hungry Eyes" belongs to Eric Carmen._

Chapter 4

Reluctant Hospitality

_**I've been meaning to tell you;**_

_**I've got this feeling that won't subside;**_

_**I look at you and I fantasize;**_

_**You're mine tonight;**_

_**Now I've got you in my sights;**_

_**With these hungry eyes;**_

_**One look at you and I can't disguise;**_

_**I've got hungry eyes;**_

_**I feel the magic between you and I;**_

_**I want to hold you so hear me out;**_

_**I want to show you what love's all about;**_

_**Darlin' tonight;**_

_**Now I've got you in my sights;**_

_**With these hungry eyes;**_

_**One look at you and I can't disguise;**_

_**I've got hungry eyes;**_

_**Now I've got you in my sights;**_

_**With those hungry eyes;**_

_**Now did I take you by surprise;**_

_**I need you to see;**_

_**This love was meant to be;**_

_**I've got hungry eyes;**_

_**One look at you and I can't disguise;**_

_**I've got hungry eyes;**_

_**I feel the magic between you and I;**_

_**I've got hungry eyes;**_

_**Now I've got you in my sights;**_

_**With those hungry eyes;**_

_**Now did I take you by surprise;**_

_**With my hungry eyes;**_

_**I need…**_

_**Hungry eyes;**_

_**Now I've got you in my sights;**_

_**With my hungry eyes.**_

_**-Hungry Eyes; Eric Carmen-**_

It was nearly 10 o'clock, the rain was still pouring and Aislynn was soaked to the skin and unbearably cold. She still hadn't found anywhere that she could stay and was about to give up hope and just set up camp somewhere on the street.

Unfortunately for her, she happened to attract more than one unwashed, sleazy, street urchin and found herself being followed for the past fifteen blocks. There were at least three of them on her trail now and she figured that it would be a good time to break into a sprint before they caught up with her.

Her legs gained speed and the three men behind her started to run as well.

"Hey girlie, where are ya goin'? We just wanna have some fun, come back here!" one of them called after her. Her heart was pounding in her ears and she prayed to god that they wouldn't catch up with her. She knew exactly what they wanted from her but she wasn't going to let them have it, she would out run them before they had a chance to catch up, or so she hoped.

She spotted a black iron gate a ways down the block from her and made a mad dash for it. When she reached it she slammed it behind her and locked it with the large padlock attached to the end. She turned around and ran for the mansion on the other side of the sparkling, emerald-green lawn.

Alarms sounded until her ears rang from the loud noise, the blinking sirens turning the atmosphere bright red. The rainwater falling around her had turned a crystalline sunset red. She became exhausted and stumbled onto the muddy lawn, scraping her knees and leaving grass stains on her jeans.

The three men behind her had climbed over the gate and were now pursuing her diligently. She got up off the ground and ran for the house, spotting the menacing silver gleam of razor sharp weapons in their greasy paws.

As Aislynn tripped up the marble stairs to the house she heard the unmistakable sounds of guard dogs. An assortment of black and tan dogs burst out of the small gate to her left, all heading straight for her assailants. The dogs bit and snarled at the three men who were now retreating back to the gate. The first one got away without a scratch, but the other two were not so lucky and were unable to outrun them, collapsing in the muddy grass under the weight of twenty Dobermans and Rotweilers. One of the Dobermans however had caught sight of the intruder cowering on the stairs.

Aislynn shrunk back against the door as the frightening animal approached her, looking into its black eyes as it snarled and snapped its gruesome jaws at her. First she was going to get pawed by three dirty men and now she was going to get mauled by a guard dog, she couldn't decide which was worse.

'_**God, I know I'm not really your favorite person as of now, but please, please, please get someone to call this animal off!'**_ She prayed silently, not daring to move lest the dog choose to attack her. Just as the dog reared back to pounce on her, the portal behind her slid open and out flooded a heavenly white light. The light was so strong that she was forced to use one of her hands as a visor. A small form appeared in the doorway, this form had a familiar shrill, high-pitched voice,

"Jezebel, bad girl! Down! Heel!" The voice commanded. The dog backed away, ashamed of herself and ran to join the other dogs in the torturing of the other two intruders. Aislynn sighed with relief, turning to see whom her rescuer was.

Her eyes finally adjusted to the bright light to reveal a mop of ebony hair accompanied by a pair of big, gorgeous cerulean blue eyes. The boy recognized her immediately, his eyes widening with surprise.

"Aislynn? What are you doing here?"

* * *

Seto Kaiba looked out his window at the two intruders getting torn apart by his guard dogs. Why they had decided to jump his fence, he had no clue. He'd been on the phone when he'd heard the sirens and seen the flashing lights coming from his security system. Frustrated with the interruption, he'd pushed the button to let his guard dogs loose, not even bothering to look out his window to see the cause for alarm. He'd already called the police and they would be there any minute, but first he needed to find out why the hell they were there in the first place.

He descended the stairs and overheard Mokuba talking to someone at the door. Had the cops arrived already? No…he hadn't heard any sirens. Was it another intruder that he hadn't seen, was someone at the door threatening his kid brother? If they were, they had another thing coming, nobody threatened his little brother! He'd make sure to run the sleazy scumbag out of town, right after destroying his self-confidence in a court of law.

But the voice that replied to Mokuba's inquiring one wasn't coming from an unwashed, seedy man of the streets, it was rich and luxurious, yet very girly, very princess-like…he knew that he'd heard it somewhere before. He caught a glimpse of the figure standing in his doorway and knew instantly whom it was. It was that girl he'd run into that morning at KaibaLand! But why was she trespassing on his property? And at this time of night? Did her boyfriend put her up to this? Was she here to get revenge for him? As Kaiba recalled, her boyfriend did not seem like a great guy to tamper with, he'd looked like he was about to hit her when she'd refused to leave with him, it was the reason why he'd taken it upon himself to call security that morning. As he approached the door, he fervently hoped she wasn't one of those "doormat" type women here to take revenge because her boyfriend told her to.

* * *

Aislynn stood shivering in the doorway of the Kaiba Mansion and thanking little Mokuba Kaiba for all of his help.

"Aislynn, you still haven't answered my question, what are you doing here?" Just as she was about to tell him what happened, a taller figure appeared out of the shadows, his sapphire eyes glaring daggers at her.

"What are _you_ doing here?" He asked menacingly, towering over her like a great beast.

"Um, I-I was just…I needed shelter-

"This is not a charity, if you're looking for one the homeless shelter is five blocks down the road." He interrupted her rudely. She shook her head, her eyes watering to the point of tears.

"Please, I can't go there, you understand, if any reporters found me there my reputation would be ruined." She tried reasoning with him. He arched an eyebrow, squinting his eyes and trying to recognize her from somewhere in the media.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"Um, beg your pardon?" She half-chuckled, as if he didn't know…

"What, are you deaf? Your name, what is it?" He demanded. She finally gave him an answer, a little insulted that he didn't recognize her.

"Aislynn." He sighed, frustrated with her insolence,

"Aislynn…what?" He asked, genuinely annoyed.

"Aislynn Mirasaki." She said simply. His eyes widened in surprise at her answer.

'_**Aislynn Mirasaki? No way…this girl cannot possibly be her!' **_He refused to believe it, Aislynn Mirasaki was the daughter of the late Prime Minister, Richard Mirasaki. He remembered this because when he was younger she had tried to file a lawsuit against his stepfather, Gozaboro Kaiba after her own father was killed viewing KaibaCorp's fighter jets. She didn't win the lawsuit of course; his stepfather had too much power in the business world. After that he'd always just assumed that she was just like every other spoiled little princess, constantly trying to find some new venture to make her dull life more interesting. He looked at her appearance and scoffed, she looked like a mess, completely the opposite of the Aislynn Mirasaki that so often graced his television screens. Her jeans were muddy and ripped, exposing a pair of scraped and bleeding knees. Her long, blue-black hair was drenched and matted to her forehead; the heavy load of water in her hair had straightened the curl it once had.

"_You're_ Aislynn Mirasaki?" He asked unbelievingly. She nodded firmly,

"Yes." He laughed at her,

"You really believe that I'm going to fall for that lie? Sorry to break it to you, but I'm not that stupid." She looked at him, unable to believe what she'd just heard, was he that ignorant?

"What lie!? I'm telling you the truth!" She shouted, a little frustrated with him.

"Oh really? Well, can you prove that you're really who you say you are?" He challenged. She huffed angrily and reached into her backpack for her wallet. She pulled out her picture Id from Black Rose Academy and handed it to him. He examined it for a while, making her stand out in the cold weather a little longer. He couldn't believe it; she'd actually been telling him the truth. The resemblance could be seen quite clearly between the girl in the photo and the one standing in front of him. The girl even attended the same school. He sighed, realizing that he had been wrong about her after all.

Mokuba pushed past his older brother, not wanting to neglect their guest.

"Seto…she's fine," he said assuringly, taking a hold of Aislynn's hand, she smiled down at the boy in relief, "she played games with me at KaibaLand remember?" he giggled, "come on Aislynn, I'll show you inside!" Mokuba tugged her after him and Seto gave her back her Id, following them inside. Aislynn wasn't too surprised by the interior of the Kaiba Mansion, she'd been exposed to the same extravagance for the whole of her life, this house wasn't much different from hers.

"Hey Aislynn, do you wanna play some videogames with me?" She looked down into Mokuba's pleading eyes then turned her attention to his older brother Seto, looking at him uncertainly,

"Um, well I will if I'm welcome to it, I still haven't really gotten the ok to stay here." She commented, staring pointedly at Seto. Mokuba wandered over to his older brother, tugging on his trench coat he begged,

"Oh come on Seto, can she stay? Please, please, pleeeeease!" He whined. Seto looked up at Aislynn and finally complied with his younger brothers wishes,

"Fine, she can stay!" He said, frustration clouding his features like it always seemed to do. Aislynn could tell by the way Seto looked at Mokuba that it must be difficult for him to tell him that he couldn't have something. Seto caught her staring at him with a slight smirk on her face and he raised an eyebrow,

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She realized she was staring at him and shook her head, scoffing at herself,

"Like what?" She asked as she went to join Mokuba on the couch. She was about to sit down on the expensive antique sofa when Seto caught her roughly by the arm, pulling her away before she had a chance to ruin his furniture with her muddy clothes. Aislynn was about to ask him what his problem until he explained himself,

"You're soaking wet, I'm already giving you a room, don't lead me to believe that it was a mistake by destroying my furniture."

"I'm sorry, I guess that I've been wet for so long that I'm kind of used to it." She smiled guiltily, thinking that she probably already blew it. Seto sighed, annoyed with the fact that he practically had to baby sit her.

"This way." He said, leading her into the nearest bathroom. He opened a cabinet to the right of the marble sink and pulled out a towel. He was ready to hand it to her when he caught sight of the indecency of her white satin tank-top. The flimsy thing was soaking wet and clung to her womanly curves, he could see her breasts almost clearly, her nipples straining through the thin fabric. His mouth grew dry with want and he started imagining himself ripping the thing from her body and kissing that creamy, rain scented skin. He snapped back to reality when he found Aislynn waving her hand in front of him to get his attention. He suddenly hoped that Mokuba hadn't noticed Aislynn's not so decent choice of clothing; just imagine the questions he'd ask…

He handed her the towel, their hands colliding and their eyes meeting. He had to admit, she was probably the most gorgeous girl he'd ever laid eyes on, even if she was a rain-washed mess. She had a very innocent, childlike gaze, nearly the same color of his favorite dragon, aquamarine-blue. She blushed and looked away as he stared at her, his eyes glazed over with desire and amusement at her childish behavior. He looked away as well, smirking at the effect he'd had on her.

Aislynn wrapped the towel around her, feeling a slight thrill at the way he had looked at her, her face still bright red from when she'd caught him staring at her less-than-decent chest. She then found herself wondering why she hadn't yelled at him, or smacked him for looking at her like that, or not even telling her that certain parts of her were showing! Instead of degrading her like it should have, his eyes burning her with their predatory gaze had excited her and she felt herself wishing he would continue with his perusal of her body. Mokuba decided to enter the room just then, breaking up the growing silence,

"What's taking you guys so long? I already have the game set up!" He exclaimed excitedly. Seto cleared his throat, making his way out of the bathroom.

"Mokuba, show Aislynn to her bedroom, I'll be in my office." He told him, heading back upstairs, not looking back at her once.

Aislynn watched him go, feeling at little disappointment at his departure. The desire she'd seen in his eyes was real right? She wasn't the only one feeling this way was she? She shook her head, clearing it of such thoughts, she _had_ only met the man and she didn't believe in love at first sight, it was too clichéd. She then followed Mokuba upstairs to her temporary bedroom.

The room was mostly made up of gold components, from the bedspread to the sun-blocking curtains; everything was painted a rich golden hue.

"Well, here's your room!" He exclaimed with glee, "Now hurry up and dry yourself off so we can play videogames!" Aislynn sighed,

"I'm sorry Mokuba, but I don't really feel like it, I'm really tired actually." He bowed his head in disappointment, then smiled back up at her shrugging it off,

"That's okay, we'll play tomorrow then!"

"Yeah, I'll play with you tomorrow!" She promised as Mokuba turned to leave.

"Well, see ya in the morning, sweet dreams, don't let the bedbugs bite!" He called cheerfully, closing the door behind him. She smiled at his last statement and slung her blue backpack over her shoulder. She rummaged through it until she found the only item of clothing she'd brought with her-besides her extra pairs of lingerie-her school uniform. She removed her wet, sopping clothes and dressed into her dry, velvet, royal purple school uniform. The uniform was amazingly comfortable for the fact that it was a school requirement. She dried as much of her long, midnight locks as she could, feeling relief in the fact that she had brought a hairbrush with her. As she was sitting in front of the gold vanity mirror, brushing her unruly hair, she allowed thoughts of the hectic day to run through her mind, first with the duel at KaibaLand up until tonight's venture into the infamous Kaiba Mansion. She felt extremely lucky to be where she was now; if it weren't for Kaiba she would still be Damien's compliant little lamb. She hated that nickname, it made her feel so weak, she knew Damien had to have known that little detail, or else he'd have tried a different method of making her feel inferior and insecure. She stopped the hairbrush in the middle of her hair, she still couldn't believe that the Damien she had once cared about and loved so much was really nothing but a liar, a fake, an evil egotist. She had told herself she wouldn't cry over him anymore the minute she had left, but now the tears came, they ran down her face and dripped onto the beautiful finish of the mahogany vanity table. Her insides shook with the amount of tension that had been building inside of her for the past few hours and she wiped the tears from her face in distress. She put the hairbrush down, not willing to dwell on anymore of her thoughts. She crossed over to the beautiful canopy bed and climbed underneath the soft covers. She turned the light off, flooding the room with the pitch black tranquility of midnight. She laid her head back and sighed, closing her eyes in exhaustion, thinking,

'_**Damien, what am I going to do about you?'**_ With that thought, she instantly fell into a dark, dreamless sleep, dreading the rise of the sun.

* * *

So, whadaya think!? Did ya like it? Did ya, did ya, did ya!? Well, like I said, more perverseness! Anyway I hope you all had a Happy New Year, this is my first post of the year 2010 and it is only the first of many, I hope you all stick around long enough for me to write it all! And by the way, thanks and kudos to all of you who reviewed me and favorited my story, I greatly appreciate it! =D I'll see you all the next time I update, tootles!


	5. Court Battles and Secret Girlfriends

Hi again! Well, this is probably the last time that you're going to see Damien for a _really_ long time, *sniff* I'm sure you'll all miss him terribly…not!

**Damien: Alright, this is the last time that I'm gonna put up with you insulting me! When I first signed on with you, you told me I was gonna be the star, not back seat to Seto Kaiba! And if anything, I'm practically the main villain of the story, I don't get the girl at the end, I basically get smote by God at the end.**

I'll make your ending even worse if you spoil anymore of the plot!

**Damien: No, you know what, I don't have to put up with this crap, I quit!**

Oh really? If you quit you don't get a paycheck!

**Damien: So what!?**

Look, don't leave; the fans will be majorly disappointed if I have to find some hobo off the street to play your part!

**Damien: Only if I get a bigger part and I get the upper hand on Kaiba for a while.**

*sigh* Alright, I'll give you a bigger part, now will you stay?

**Damien: Sure, now come on let's get on with the story, I'm sure the fans are going to send us hate mail if we don't get on with it soon.**

Anyway, I hope you guys like it!

_Disclaimer: All the rights to Yu-Gi-Oh! belong to Kazuki Takahashi, I'm just a helpless, drooling, Kaiba fangirl. The song, "Everything You're Not" belongs to the musical artist, Demi Lovato._

Chapter 5

Court Battles and Secret Girlfriends

_**I've been bruised and I've been broken;**_

_**Can't believe that I put up with all this pain;**_

_**I've been used and I was choking on the promise;**_

_**I would never fall again;**_

_**I used to sing to your twisted symphony;**_

_**The words that had me trapped inside your misery;**_

_**But now I know;**_

_**The reason why I couldn't breathe;**_

'_**Cause all I want is everything you're not;**_

_**So go ahead and slam the door;**_

'_**Cause you can shut me out;**_

_**And no I don't, I don't care what you say;**_

'_**Cause all I really, all I really want;**_

_**Is everything you're not;**_

_**Everything you're not not not;**_

_**Your darkness was my weakness but it turns out;**_

_**That it only went so deep;**_

_**A meaningless diversion that is all that you;**_

_**Ever meant to me;**_

_**And I am done with your twisted symphony;**_

_**The words that had me sound like stolen poetry;**_

_**I tore the pages and I can finally breathe;**_

'_**Cause all I want is everything you're not;**_

_**So go ahead and slam the door;**_

'_**Cause you can't shut me out;**_

_**And no I don't, I don't care what you say;**_

'_**Cause all I really, all I really want;**_

_**Is everything you're not;**_

_**I want a gentleman who treats me like a queen;**_

_**I need respect, I need love;**_

_**Nothing in between;**_

_**I will not spell it out for you if you can't see;**_

'_**Cause you're not worthy, you don't deserve me;**_

_**And now I'm gone;**_

_**Everything you're not, not, not;**_

_**Everything you're not, not, not;**_

_**Never gonna break my heart again;**_

_**Never gonna see your face again;**_

_**Never wanna feel this way again.**_

_**-Everything You're Not; Demi Lovato-**_

The bright September morning sun shone in through the gold curtains in the guestroom, awakening the lovely sleeping form beneath the cover of the downy sheets.

Aislynn opened her eyes and stretched, looking around and remembering the events of the night before. She still couldn't believe that she was staying at the Kaiba Mansion. She'd heard numerous rumors that Kaiba had no friends because he was so self-centered. The only person he cared about in the entire world was his little brother, Mokuba. If that was true, why did he rescue her last night? Why did he take her in out of the freezing rain? Was it because Mokuba wanted him to? Or was it because he truly did it out of the kindness of his heart? Now that she thought about it, Mokuba did have a lot of influence on what Seto did, it seemed, so it was probably really Mokuba's decision more than it was Seto's. She rose from the bed and crossed to the vanity mirror. She cringed when she saw her reflection. There, on her left cheek was an enormous black and blue bruise from where Damien had hit her. She dreaded going downstairs now, because now she'd have to tell them the embarrassing and piteous truth of why she'd been wandering the streets at night. She hated seeing pity in another's eyes, pity for her, she didn't want to see it reflected in those sapphire depths.

She sat down at the vanity table and proceeded to brush out her hair and make herself up. Of course, this was more difficult than it sounded, every time she moved her face, she cringed with the awful shooting pain. When she perceived herself finished, she grabbed her backpack and stood at the door, contemplating what she would say to them when they saw. She walked down the stairs to meet her hosts for breakfast.

Seto was sitting on the far end of the table, a mug of coffee in one hand and his face hidden by the morning paper. Mokuba however, jumped up to greet her as soon as he spotted her, grinning from cheek to cheek. His grin turned into a concerned frown as he saw the large, purple bruise that had formed on her left cheek. He gasped,

"Aislynn, what happened to your face?" Jeez, that kid was loud, he just had to shout it to the whole world didn't he? She heard the rustling of newspapers and knew that Seto had to have overheard his little brother. She quickly turned her face to the side so he couldn't see anything. He noticed what she'd done and narrowed his eyes at her,

"What's wrong with your face?" He asked. She shrugged nervously, hoping he'd just forget about it and move on,

"Nothing, it's nothing really." She assured him. Seto looked over at Mokuba who had a concerned expression akin to one who is deeply afraid for their friend's well-being. Seto sighed, throwing down his newspaper and crossing the room to where Aislynn and Mokuba were standing.

"What's wrong with your face?" He asked again, "If you won't tell me, then I'll just find out myself." He warned her, giving her a chance to spit it out. She continued to turn her face away from him, too ashamed to tell him what had happened to her.

Seto was tired of waiting for her to tell him what was wrong, he grabbed her by the upper arm so she couldn't run away and caught a hold of her face, none too gently. She screamed out in pain, her eyes watering from his firm hold. Realizing that he'd hurt her he lessened the pressure of his hold to gently stroke the discolored skin there. She flinched, still not trusting him to be gentle. She looked down at the floor, not willing to meet his gaze. She reminded him of a wounded animal, one that's been abused by its master so many times that it's difficult for it to trust anyone else.

"Who did this to you?" He asked gently. A crystalline tear fell from her lashes as she said his name,

"Damien, my boyfriend, he-he was angry about his defeat at KaibaLand and about the fact that I wouldn't agree to marry him," she shivered painfully in remembrance, "So, he hit me and locked me in my bedroom, telling me that he was going to force me into wedlock. I climbed out my window and ran away from home and I ended up here." She finished, finally looking up at him. His eyes weren't full of pity like she'd first assumed, actually they were full of cold, unrelentless anger. He pulled away from her and handed her a handkerchief to dry her eyes.

"I'm going to skip school and go to the courthouse so I can file for an emancipation and a restraining order, I think that this bruise will be enough to convince anyone don't you?" she said, cringing in pain when she tried to smile.

Seto was confused, after all she'd been through she was still trying to crack jokes at her lousy predicament. He glanced over at her again, grimacing in pain as she tried to smile. It wasn't right that she'd had to suffer like she did, her skin should be flawless, free of marks, not bruised and battered like some drunkard's wife. He found himself wanting to help her and thought of something that he could possibly do for her, he turned his head away, frowning. It was really none of his business, he shouldn't get involved, especially with a woman like her, it could royally screw up his reputation for all he knew.

Seto grabbed his briefcase and headed for the door, Mokuba trailing behind him.

"We have to leave for school, but you're free to stay another night if you can't get into court right away." Seto offered. Her eyes watered again with the realization that she had people who cared somewhat for her well-being.

"Thank-you." She sobbed, her voice blocked with tears. Mokuba ran over and gave her a huge hug around the waist before hurrying off to the limousine waiting outside.

"Bye Aislynn, get better soon!" The twelve-year-old boy called before closing the door behind him. As Aislynn stood in the large, empty dining room she knew what she had to do. She wandered over to the phone on the wall and dialed her father's friend, Judge Phillips.

After a few minutes of nothing but empty ringing, a rich, smooth, calming voice answered on the other line.

"Hello?"

"Oh Judge Phillips, thank god! I was hoping I would get a hold of you." The man on the other line was confused,

"Who is this?"

"Oh I'm sorry, you probably don't remember me, it's me, Aislynn, Richard's daughter!"

"Richard, Richard, Richard oh yes! Now I remember, how's it goin' honey?" The man laughed wholeheartedly.

"Actually Judge Phillips, I need a favor, I'm in serious trouble."

* * *

"You know you're gorgeous right?" Damien cooed into the receiver of the phone. The girl on the other end giggled at his compliment,

"You are such a sweet talker." She said, her French accent coming into play. The girl was a French swimsuit model, Damien had met her while on one of Aislynn's political trips to Paris, France. "So, tell me," she asked, "you and the little princess are going to get married right?"

"Yeah, of course, what of it?" He asked, his voice brimming with confidence.

"Well, when I spoke to you last night, you were singing a different tune. I believe you told me that you had a fight last night." He sighed in exasperation, must everyone bring that up? He'd called his other two women earlier and had told them about the situation that little Aislynn no longer wished to marry him. His mistresses hadn't been too happy with the news. "Like I've told you before Damien, you can beat your slave all you want, but you must also stroke her with kindness if you're ever to gain her trust." The woman commented snidely.

"I know that! I'm going to give her breakfast in a few minutes, I've already called her school and told them she was feeling under the weather. Don't worry Jacqueline, she'll marry me no matter what she says." Jacqueline huffed on the other end,

"She'd better, call me back when she willingly puts that diamond ring back on, loverboy." She hung up without another word, leaving Damien with the empty dial tone. He sighed and crossed the room to the breakfast tray he'd prepared for his ward. He picked up the silver tray of eggs and hot cereal and moved down the hall towards Aislynn's chambers.

When he arrived, he knocked upon the mahogany-red door, shifting the silver tray into his left hand, he fumbled in his pocket with the right for the small heart-shaped gold key to Aislynn's door.

"Good morning my lovely little lamb! I've brought you a nice, nutritious breakfast and a bridal catalog, I know how you like to design your own clothing, but I thought that this might give you some ideas for your bridal gown-

He stopped in mid-sentence, not finding any sign of Aislynn anywhere.

'_**Hmm, perhaps she's in the bath?'**_ He thought as he crossed the threshold into her bedroom. He glanced into her bathroom and dropped the tray he was holding, the porcelain dishes upon it shattering into a hundred tiny pieces, causing a mess of eggs and oatmeal to collide upon the white-tiled floor. She was gone! He turned around checking underneath the bed and in other shadowed places of the room to make sure she wasn't hiding from him, but he found nothing. He then noticed the wide open window, its white lace curtains flapping in the wind.

Damn her! She must have escaped during the night! How could he have been so stupid to leave the window unlocked! He shook his head, calming himself,

'_**No matter, it's not like she could have wandered far, she's much too high maintenance, hmph she's probably sitting just outside those gates.'**_ He thought, looking outside to the large iron gates. Just as he made his way down the hall, the phone rang.

He ran to catch the phone, holding it up to his ear,

"Hello?"

"Yes, hello is this Mr. Duvall?"

"Yes, this is him, what do you want, I'm very busy! I have my hands tied up with a situation."

"Young man, this is Judge Phillips you're talking to, if you're going to raise your voice then I might just decide to arrest you for your crimes instead!" His voice boomed on the other line. Damien was both frightened and confused at the same time,

"Uh, what crimes?"

"Meet me at the Domino City Courthouse at noon and we'll discuss it, and you'd better be on time, I'm not somebody who enjoys waiting for people like you!" The Judge hung up and Damien threw the phone across the room in a rage. What crimes!? He'd done nothing wrong! Damn it all, now he'd have to postpone his search for Aislynn to meet Judge Phillips down at the courthouse. For what, he had no clue, he just hoped he could get it over with before Aislynn went to the authorities or worse, got herself killed and all of her inheritance was impossible for him to get his hands on!

* * *

Aislynn stood at the Plaintiff's podium in the Domino City Courthouse, waiting with Judge Phillips for Damien's arrival. It didn't take long until the double doors of the courtroom came crashing open to reveal her ex-fiance. She didn't turn around to face him, she was too hurt and angry.

Damien spotted her at once, rushing over to her and taking her into a tight embrace.

"Oh, Aislynn my love, I've been so worried about-

She tore herself away from his embrace, angry tears forming in her already moist eyes.

"Aislynn? What's wrong?" He asked, she still didn't answer. Judge Phillips cleared his throat.

"Son, your pretty little ward has told me that you beat her and were going to force her into wedlock, is this true?" Damien huffed,

"Of course it's not true! She's delusional your honor! I would never do something so crass to her!"

"He lies!" Aislynn finally spoke up, "Look at the evidence on my face your honor, does it look like I'm in any way delusional!?" She cried, tears finally springing forth from her eyes. The Judge looked at the sobbing mess before him and shook his head,

"No, I believe you are not, but Aislynn you've told me so much about this man already, how bad his behavior has gotten over the years, in that case, why didn't you get the emancipation when you were fifteen like you were supposed to?" She sniffed delicately before speaking,

"I didn't get it because…I was in love with him, your honor and I couldn't find it in my heart to give him up. But now I see that our love was nothing but lies and I can't live with those lies any longer, this is the reason why I came to you, your honor." The Judge sighed,

"I believe that I've seen and heard enough and therefore I'm going to rule in the Plaintiff's favor," He slammed his gavel down on the podium, "the Plaintiff has decreed that she wants the Defendant out of her home and has filed a restraining order against him, he is not allowed to come within 200 feet of the Plaintiff. Court is adjorned!" The Judge left the room and Damien's face was a mixture of rage and the frightened realization that he'd be going back to being nobody. He glared back over at his ex-fiance who had her eyes turned away from him, waiting for him to leave. He inconspicuously sidled up beside her, making sure he was in her hearing range,

"This isn't over yet my little lamb, mark my words, I will have you back, whether you go willingly or not." He walked out of the courtroom after that, leaving Aislynn to tremble with his words.

* * *

The Kaiba brothers waited in the living room for their guest to show up, but she never did. Mokuba was starting to get worried, especially with his older brother pacing back and forth like a caged tiger.

"Where is she?" He brooded, Mokuba continued flipping through the channels on the television, unable to settle on a station.

"I'm sure she's fine Seto, she probably had to stay late to do some paperwork or something."

'_**Pfft, why am I worried? She's probably fine, it's not like she's walking the streets alone like last night.' **_That's what got him thinking, what if she lost the case, what if her boyfriend had hurt her again, like last night or what if he'd done something worse? Mokuba calling his name excitedly broke into his worried imaginings,

"Seto! Seto look! It's Aislynn!" He called, pointing at the television screen. There on the television screen was something that was filmed hours ago, tons of fans and reporters crowded around her as she tried to leave the courthouse and get into one of her limousines. The male reporter was reciting the details of the case, thus revealing that Aislynn had won and that Damien was forced to move out of her home and stay at least 200 feet away from her at all times. Seto let out his breath without realizing he'd been holding it in, Mokuba looked at him curiously, a knowing smirk planted on his adorable features. The reporter then revealed why Aislynn hadn't come back, she'd paid for a room at one of the most expensive hotels in the city and was set to stay there until Damien got all of his stuff out of her home.

Seto scoffed, a little insulted that she would choose to stay in some hotel rather than take up his offer for a room if she needed it. He then started to laugh out loud, why was he insulted, he never wanted her here anyway!

'_**Goodbye and good riddance!'**_ he thought. It was for the better, she would have just screwed up his reputation with all the rumors those nasty reporters spewed about her all the time. Yet no matter how much he didn't want her around him, he still felt like she'd hurt his feelings. Ha! That was a good one! _She _had hurt _his _feelings!? As far as he was concerned he had no feelings, no feelings for anyone other than Mokuba, his oh so gracious stepfather had seen to that years ago. He'd taught him that emotions make you weak, you can't trust anyone, everyone is your enemy until proven otherwise.

"Seto, are you alright?" Mokuba asked, Seto's sudden hysterical laughing had him somewhat concerned for his brother's well-being.

"Yes, I'm fine, Aislynn's not coming back Mokuba," He said, his brother lowered his head sadly, understanding what Seto meant, "I don't even think we're going to be on speaking terms with her ever again." He said, staring at the woman getting mobbed by reporters on the television screen. Why had he said this? He knew deep down that Aislynn was of a higher class in society, politics and whatnot. Seto Kaiba didn't belong in her world and Aislynn Mirasaki didn't belong in his, that's just how it was meant to be.

* * *

"Ow! Goddamnit this thing is heavy!" Damien grunted as he carried another heavy box out to the moving van.

'_**Damn her! Damn her! Damn her!'**_ He cursed, hating Aislynn with nearly all of his being. Now how the hell was he supposed to get his hands on that inheritance? He still hadn't come up with a plan and his three other women were thinking of leaving him too! That bitch had royally screwed up his life, she deserved that bruise on her cheek as far as he was concerned.

'_**I hope it shows through her makeup.'**_ He thought spitefully, that bitch had ruined everything for him, she had gone back on their promise to get married, a promise they'd kept for two years! Two years! And here he was thinking that he'd get a really good lay when in fact he wasn't going to get anything! He couldn't stand it, he was going to get something out of this, Aislynn had promised herself to him, she was practically his! Just as the thought crossed his mind his foot crunched onto something small, round and jagged. He looked down and underneath his boot was the enormous diamond ring he had given to her. The ring she had thrown out the window during their lover's spat. The band of the ring was bent and pieces of the diamond had broken off from the weight of his boot. The diamond was broken it seemed, just like their promise. He clutched the diamond in his fist, the broken, jagged formation breaking his skin and cutting the inside of his palm and fingers. Aislynn might think their promise void, but he would see to it that she fulfilled her promises, all in time.

* * *

There, are you happy now Damien?

**Damien: Yeah, sure I guess I did have a lot more screen time this time, but where was my upper hand on Kaiba? And my character practically lost everything, what the hell?**

Sorry Damien, but the plot called for it, I can't have you interfering with Seto and Aislynn's love now can I? hee hee!

**Damien: Hey! Gee, you make me feel so loved JoBro-fangirl, *sniff* when is my character going to find love!?**

Ha! NEVER!

**Damien: T_T Ok I'm outta here, see yas later!**

Ditto! Send me a review and I'll get back to you! (Even if you don't, I'm still going to try and update regularly!)


	6. A New Start with New Friends

Welp, I'm back with another new chappie! I hope you like it! Feel free to PM me about anything that you might have questions about or maybe anything you'd like to suggest for a later chapter or something, suggestions are always welcome! Anyway, this might be one of my last updates for a while; I'm starting college in a few weeks and will have less time to spend writing fanfictions. ;{ But you shouldn't have anything to worry about, no matter how stumped in homework I am, I will not abandon this project, I refuse! =)

_Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Yu-Gi-Oh! I'm just an obsessed fangirl, nothing more… The song, "Mannequin" is the property of Katy Perry._

Chapter 6

A New Start with New Friends

_**How do I get closer to you;**_

_**When you keep it all on mute;**_

_**How will I know;**_

_**The right way to love you;**_

_**Usually the queen of figuring out;**_

_**Breaking down a man is no work out;**_

_**But I have no clue;**_

_**How to get through to you;**_

_**I wanna hit you just to see if you cry;**_

_**I keep knocking on wood;**_

_**Hoping there's a real boy inside;**_

'_**Cause you're not a man;**_

_**You're just a mannequin;**_

_**I wish you could feel;**_

_**That my love is real;**_

_**But you're not a man;**_

_**I wish I could just turn you on;**_

_**Put a battery in and make you talk;**_

_**Even pull a string;**_

_**For you to say anything;**_

_**But with you there is no guarantee;**_

_**Only expired warranty;**_

_**A bunch of broken parts;**_

_**And I can't seem to find your heart;**_

_**I'm such a fool;**_

_**I'm such a fool;**_

_**I'm such a fool;**_

_**This one's outta my hands;**_

_**I can't put you back together again;**_

'_**Cause you're not a man;**_

_**You're just a mannequin;**_

_**I wish you could feel;**_

_**That my love is real;**_

_**But you're not a man;**_

_**You're just a toy;**_

_**Could you ever be a real, real boy;**_

_**And understand;**_

_**But you're not a man;**_

_**If the past is the problem;**_

_**Our future could solve them baby;**_

_**I could bring you to life;**_

_**If you let me inside baby;**_

_**It'll hurt;**_

_**But in the end;**_

_**You'll be a man.**_

_**-Mannequin; Katy Perry-**_

The halls of Domino High School were always tightly crowded ten minutes before the school bell. Kaiba cursed as he pushed his way through the endless wave of students, he'd had to stay up late again doing paperwork for KaibaCorp and hadn't gotten to bed until two in the morning. Therefore, he had risen late and had almost been late to class. He finally reached his locker and the bell rang just as he was closing it. He sighed with relief and practically ran to class. He took his seat in the very back and took out his books to notice everyone else talking amongst themselves instead of quieting down for class like usual.

"Hey Tristan, did ya hear? We're getting a new student." Joey Wheeler told his comrade, Tristan Taylor.

"Yeah, and I heard she's a transfer student from Black Rose Academy, that means she's probably really hot!" Tristan exclaimed excitedly.

"Yeah, we can only hope…" Joey added.

'_**A transfer student from Black Rose Academy?' **_Kaiba thought, _**'Could it be…no let's not be ridiculous, it's probably just a coincidence.' **_Kaiba assured himself. There was no way she'd be transferring over to his school, she stood too high in society to lower herself to the normalities of normal high school students.

The teacher stood at the front of the class, clearing his throat to speak,

"Settle down please everyone, as you've all heard we have a new student joining us today from Black Rose Academy. Everyone please welcome, Aislynn Mirasaki." Seto's head snapped up as soon as he heard her name spoken, his face wearing a disbelieving frown. Seconds later she walked in, greeted by oohs, aahs and wolf whistles. She lowered her head and blushed at the attention. For some reason Seto could do nothing but stare at her, she looked a lot better than most of the girls at this school in the required uniform. It fit snuggly to her delicate form, showing off her womanly curves. The skirt was a little short and went down to her thighs, leaving her slim legs nearly bare except for the uniform white knee-high socks. Her hair tumbled down her back with its natural midnight ringlets, tied back by a dark blue ribbon in a half-updo. The teacher turned to her,

"Well Miss Mirasaki, it looks like the only seat I have left is to the right of Mr. Seto Kaiba." She giggled when she saw him in the back with the astounded expression on his face.

"Alright, that's fine." She said, making her way to the seat in the back, the stares of the male students following the hem of her oh so short skirt. She sat down next to him and winked at him. He turned his attention ahead to the blackboard where the teacher was beginning the lesson, there was no way that he was going to give any of these lowlifes any insight to the fact that he knew this girl, no way, it could mean bad news for him. It turned out that throughout the whole lesson the only people who were actually taking the notes were Kaiba, Aislynn and the rest of the girls. The boys were too busy thinking up some kind of pick-up lines to get Aislynn to go out with them, no doubt. When the school bell rang, Seto could have sworn all of the guys jumped out of their seats for the chance to walk Aislynn to her next class.

'_**Girl obsessed morons.'**_ He thought, getting out as fast as he could before he could get trampled by the newly formed Aislynn fanclub.

* * *

Aislynn tried calling after Kaiba before he left but to no avail, she was immediately swarmed by nearly every guy in class, earning more than one jealous glare from the girls passing by. They were each offering to take her to her next class, but she told them she'd rather go by herself. The problem was, none of them were listening to anything she said.

"Hey, the lady said she doesn't want an escort so let her go!" shouted a boy about her age with gelled up brown hair, tanned skin and chestnut brown eyes. Next to him stood whom she assumed was his friend, this boy had a long mop of wheat blonde hair and adorable toffee brown eyes; they reminded her of puppy-dog eyes. The blonde boy grabbed her gently by the wrist and pulled her out of the crowd of encroaching fanboys, shouting,

"Hey, don't most of you have girlfriends? What gives?"

"Yeah, do you really think she'd want to go out with you after she found out you're with somebody else?" The brunette boy inquired, "You guys should be ashamed of yourselves." He said before following his blonde comrade out the classroom door.

"There ya go, now you can get to class without being hounded." The blonde boy smiled. Aislynn giggled,

"Thank-you for all your help back there." She thanked them, bowing in gratitude.

"Whoa, you don't have to do that ya know, we didn't really do anything special." The brunette said, waving his hands.

"Sure you did, you got all of those guys out of my hair, now I can finally breathe." She sighed with relief.

"So, what was your name again? Sorry I'm not really good with names." The blonde boy smiled, scratching his head guiltily.

"Oh, it's Aislynn, Aislynn Mirasaki." The brunette's eyes widened,

"Mirasaki? As in late Prime Minister Mirasaki?"

"Yes! He was my father." She exclaimed cheerfully.

"I'm sorry about what happened to him, that was awful." The brunette apologized.

"Please don't apologize; I kind of hate it when people do that." Aislynn said, shaking her head, "I don't want to be reminded of the bad times I had concerning my father, I only want to remember the good times." The blonde wasn't in the mood for talking about death either and so extended his hand to introduce himself,

"By the way, the name's Joey, Joey Wheeler. And this bonehead is Tristan!"

"Hey! Who're you calling a bonehead Wheeler!?" He shouted grabbing Joey in a headlock.

"Tristan!" He growled, struggling in his friend's chokehold. Aislynn laughed at their silly antics, turning their attention back to her. Joey tore away from Tristan's headlock and straightened himself up.

"Anyway, why don't we escort you to class, the bell's going to ring pretty soon." Tristan offered.

"Thank-you, I would really appreciate it!"

"So, what's your next class?" Joey asked as they began walking down the hall.

"Well, according to my schedule, I have calculus next."

"What!? Calculus!?" Joey exclaimed.

"For real?" Tristan asked.

"Yes, what's so wrong about calculus?"  
"Nothing's wrong with it, it's just I didn't-

"You didn't think I was smart enough to belong in calculus, right?" She asked, a little ticked off that they had perceived her as some dumb rich girl.

"Yeah, I guess, sorry about that." Joey apologized.

"It's okay; a lot of people think I'm dumb." Tristan and Joey sighed, not knowing what else to say. Just as they were arriving at Aislynn's destination, Joey got an idea,

"Hey, do you wanna hang out with us at lunch? You could meet the rest of our friends and we could give you a tour of the school." Joey offered. Aislynn's face brightened up,

"Yeah, that'd be great! Where do you want to meet?" She asked. Joey and Tristan were surprised by her sudden burst of happiness.

"Meet us out by the cherry tree in the back of the school, don't worry, you'll find it, it's the largest one growing on school campus." Tristan spoke up.

"Okay, see you then." She smiled, opening the door to her classroom. When she disappeared they both looked at each other, shit-eating grins planted on their handsome faces. They high-fived each other,

"Score!" Joey exclaimed, "We're going to have the hottest girl in school hanging out with us!"

"Yeah, think of how jealous everyone's going to be!" Tristan chuckled. As the two congratulated themselves the tardy bell rang to knock them out of their thoughts.

"And I think that's our cue to get to class." Tristan concluded, Joey nodded and the two scurried off to their next class, P.E.

* * *

Aislynn wasn't surprised to see Kaiba seated in the back of her Calculus class, but he seemed to be surprised to see her there. Obviously he was thinking the same things Tristan and Joey had told her earlier that morning.

This time she was seated in front of him instead of beside him which for her was kind of a bummer since she couldn't just glance over at him without being too obvious. When it came time to correct papers her and Kaiba switched assignments. Kaiba looked at her astounded when he handed her back her corrected papers,

"You got them all right." She handed him back his papers and he scowled at the red check mark on his last problem,

"You missed the last one, but that's okay I had trouble on that one too." She smiled, not realizing how much that little red mark had damaged his pride. He was the owner of a large billion-dollar corporation and he couldn't even solve one high-school Calculus problem? He scowled down at his paper shamefully as if willing the red mark to white itself out.

She tried to catch him again as the bell rang, but once again she was the center of attention to every male in that general vicinity. Luckily, this time she was able to burst through the crowd without Tristan and Joey's help.

She went to find her locker before meeting up with Joey, Tristan and the others and then found Joey waiting out front.

"Hey!" She called; he turned around to see who was calling him,

"Oh, hey there Aislynn."

"Joey, I thought you said that you guys usually hang out in the back of the school?"

"Oh, yeah we do, I'm just waiting for my friends Tristan and Yugi, we all have P.E. together." Aislynn recognized the name Yugi but she couldn't remember where she'd heard it, so much had happened to her over the past few weeks that she hadn't been able to remember the tiniest details. She recognized him at once when he came out from the boy's locker room, Tristan trailing behind him.

"Oh, Yugi! I know you, you're that boy I talked with that night in the game shop a few weeks ago." He spotted her and pointed at her, trying to remember her name,

"Aislynn right?" She nodded, "So you're the new student from Black Rose Academy?" She nodded again,

"Yes, that's right." Joey looked back and forth between Aislynn and Yugi,

"Wait a second, so you guys know each other?" They both nodded. "Aaaaah Yugi! Why didn't you tell me you knew such a fine lookin' girl!?" Yugi and Aislynn laughed at Joey's frustrated outburst.

"Sorry Joey, I only met her two weeks ago." Yugi apologized, putting up his hands in surrender.

"Nah, its okay, come on, let's go buy lunch!" Joey shouted, grabbing his bag and heading toward the lunchroom.

* * *

Kaiba sat alone in his usual spot during lunch, on a stone bench isolated from the rest of the high school students. His fingers danced over the keys of his laptop computer as he tried to finish his notes for his board meeting that night. His eyelids drooped and his stomach rumbled, he was badly in need of a hot meal and a good night's rest.

'_**So tired…'**_ He thought, staring blankly at the bright screen that burned his cold sapphire eyes. His stomach growled again and he rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes, trying to focus back on his work.

A curious, bubbling laughter distracted him from what he was doing, causing him to look up from the obnoxious white screen.

"Well whataya know? It's the dweeb patrol." He thought out loud. He was about to go back to what he was doing when he heard the enchanting laughter again. His reddened eyes stopped on a beautiful, leggy brunette amongst their group.

'_**Hmm, leggy brunette?'**_ He thought. Tea Gardener was the only brunette he could think of that belonged to-

No way, Aislynn wouldn't sink that low would she?

'_**Apparently she would.'**_ He thought with a deadpanned expression as he watched her with Yugi and his cheerleaders. Aislynn's cheeks were rosy from the chilly weather, her bright, aqua eyes sparkling with joyful radiance. He listened to her laugh again and allowed himself a smile, marveling over her luminous beauty and how the world seemed to brighten up when she smiled.

She caught him staring at her and stared back at him before giving him a shy smile, her cheeks turning a more vibrant red with every passing second. He looked away, his cheeks becoming red with embarrassment; he hid his face behind the screen of his laptop, cursing himself for falling for her womanly charms. He didn't know what was wrong with him, every time he saw her his heart started to go all aflutter like he was some lovesick swain. He didn't understand it, he'd never felt this way about anyone before and it scared the hell out of him. He just hoped that he could overcome these emotions he was feeling for her, or else it could mean the end of his reputation if he chose to follow through with them. He knew very well that when he wanted something, it was hard for him to resist the temptation, he hoped he was strong enough to resist this one.

* * *

Joey, Tristan, and Yugi had taken Aislynn to meet the rest of their friends, Ryo Bakura and Tea Gardener. They were all very kind hearted people and she was glad to call them her new friends. They also told her that there was another member to their group but he was out sick for the day so she wouldn't get to meet him until he came back to school. She was so happy, in all of her life she'd never had this many friends. Well, not real real friends, the only true friend she'd ever had was Andy and she was an American transfer student. She and Andy did everything together, she taught Aislynn some of her American traditions and Aislynn taught Andy some of her Japanese ones. Aislynn told Andy that she was transferring schools but when Andy called for permission from her parents to transfer they told her no and that they had paid far too much money for her to go to Black Rose Girls Academy for her to transfer to a public school. Aislynn and Andy agreed that they would just text each other between classes and before bedtime, it was enough for them. They decided they didn't need to see each other every day face to face to stay BFFs.

She headed out to the parking lot after her last class to wait for her limousine, taking out her cell phone to text how her first day went to her friend Andy. Typing away on her cell phone she hardly noticed the tall form waiting a few feet down from her. She looked up in the midst of her typing and closed her phone, pocketing the device she walked down a few paces until she was staring up into Seto Kaiba's cold, icy blue gaze.

"What do _you_ want?" He asked, she blushed at his forwardness.

"Well, I just wanted to apologize for not taking up your offer to stay that night, I know it must have offended you and I'm sorry. I thought it would be best to stay in a hotel so I wouldn't attract the reporters to your home, I'm sure you wouldn't have wanted all that unnecessary attention." He had done nothing but stare at her coldly the whole time she'd explained herself and she grew uncomfortable underneath his cruel, scrutinizing stare. She sighed shakily and bowed,

"Forgive me." She said, walking back to her spot on the sidewalk. Kaiba's limousine arrived and he looked back at her as the footman opened the door,

"I wasn't offended." He muttered indifferently, sliding into the sleek black Bentley. She stared after him as he left, wondering why she ever thought she could melt a heart that thickly encased in ice.

* * *

Hey everybody, sorry I didn't update this a few days ago but I came down with this really nasty cold and was basically immobilized (I was doing a whole lot of sleeping). But on the bright side, I came up with a whole lot of other ideas for my story and I'm pretty happy with that. And if you're wondering, no I have no idea what people do in Calculus and I do not think that I'll be lucky enough to even take a Calculus course, I am really bad at math, I have to take Algebra 1 over again in college… T_T yeah that's how bad I am. Aislynn is way over my head when it comes to schoolwork, thus we are nothing alike in that aspect. So my brother cannot say I based this character entirely off of myself ha ha ha! (A lot of people were saying that and it was getting annoying!) Well I hope you enjoyed this filler chapter and I hope to update again before I start college on January 25th! See ya later! And you know if you press that sparkly review button at the bottom of the page it might just persuade me to update sooner! =D


	7. Valiant Knight or Coldhearted Dragon

Hey there everybody, now the last chapter was basically just filler and there really wasn't much action in it but I promise you that this chapter will be oozing with action! Yessir! More bloody card-game action! Whoopee! =]

_Disclaimer: I will never own Yu-Gi-Oh! but I wish they would have put some of the violent games from the manga and season 0 into the other seasons. I think Yu-Gi-Oh! would have gotten a lot more viewers…morbid life or death games rock! Oh, and before I forget, I don't own the song, "I Turn to You", it belongs to Melanie C._

Chapter 7

A Valiant Knight or a Cold-hearted Dragon?

_**When the world is darker than I can understand;**_

_**When nothing turns out the way I planned;**_

_**When the sky turns grey and there's no end in sight;**_

_**When I can't sleep through the lonely night;**_

_**I turn to you. Like a flower leaning towards the sun;**_

_**I turn to you. 'Cuz you're the only one;**_

_**Who can turn me around when I'm upside down;**_

_**I turn to you;**_

_**When my insides are wracked with anxiety;**_

_**You have the touch that will quiet me;**_

_**You lift my spirit, you melt the ice;**_

_**When I need inspiration, when I need advice;**_

_**I turn to you. Like a flower leaning toward the sun;**_

_**I turn to you. 'Cuz you're the only one;**_

_**Who can turn me around when I'm upside down;**_

_**I turn to you;**_

_**Where would I be? What would I do?**_

_**If you'd never helped me through;**_

_**I hope someday if you've lost your way;**_

_**You could turn to me like I turn to you;**_

_**I turn to you. When fear tells me to turn around;**_

_**I turn to you. 'Cuz you're the only one;**_

_**Who can turn me around when I'm upside down;**_

_**I turn to you. I turn to you. I turn to you.**_

_**-I Turn to You; Melanie C-**_

Another week of school began for the kids of Domino High School. The leaves of the trees started to change their color, trading in shades of lush green for vibrant reds, yellows and burgundies.

Joey Wheeler took a deep breath of the cool morning air, walking the same number of blocks to school as he did every morning. He wanted to get there early today, only because he told Aislynn he'd help her with her history project. To tell the truth, he wasn't all that familiar with the subject of Geishas, but she asked him if he could help her and he couldn't say no. Over the few days she'd been there, Joey Wheeler had developed a crush on Aislynn Mirasaki. He couldn't help it; she was adorable and irresistibly sweet. Then again, his thoughts probably weren't any different from the millions of other guys she had drooling over her every day. Yet thinking of his new found crush always brought him back to one person, Mai Valentine. The problem was he had no idea where Mai was, she'd left again without notice. He didn't understand it, what did he have to do to make her stay? He kicked a piece of gravel with his foot in frustration. The sounds of excited male voices made Joey lift his head only to find Aislynn surrounded by her ravenous pack of adoring fans. She seemed overwhelmed as she clutched her books to her chest, desperately looking for a way out of the ring of boys. He ran towards the mosh pit of boys and began to push his way through,

"Don't worry Aislynn, I'll save ya!" He shouted, pushing his way to the middle.

"Joey? Is that you? Help me!" She laughed.

"Gotcha!" He exclaimed as he caught her hand and proceeded to drag her through the crowd of adoring fans. Aislynn gripped the tails of Joey's jacket to keep herself from being pulled back into the crowd. Once they were out safely, Joey sighed,

"Does this happen to you every day?" She looked up at him guiltily,

"Ever since I started attending school here." He scratched his head, unsure what to do,

"Hmm, have you tried walking to school with friends?" He asked. She shook her head,

"I like to get here an hour early and I don't want to be a bother by forcing anyone out the door too early." He smiled a little at her last statement, she was always thinking of others before herself.

"It seems the only way we can solve this problem is if I walk to school with you every day!" He exclaimed, giving her a cheeky grin.

"Oh no I couldn't ask you to do that!" She started to protest, he shook his head,

"Nah, it's okay, I want to." She looked up at him, arching a brow,

"Really?"

"Yeah, why not? We're friends right?" Her face broke into a heartfelt smile,

"Yes, of course."

"Alright then, I'll walk with ya to school every morning to make sure you don't get mobbed by these mooks." He said, tugging his thumb over his shoulder. She nodded,

"Okay."

"Now, what was it ya needed help with? Somethin' about Geishas?" He asked. Her eyes widened with remembrance,

"Oh yes, my project on the history of the Geisha, you said you knew something about them right?" Joey laughed nervously, scratching his head; he was in deep shit now. Nevertheless, he sat down with her and at least pretended to know a little of what she was talking about.

* * *

A large figure hid just out of view behind a series of lockers as he watched Wheeler help the new girl with her history project. He knew a lot of the males at that school didn't know who exactly Aislynn Mirasaki really was. Obviously Wheeler was one of those males; otherwise he would've known that someone like her wouldn't be caught dead with filth like him. She was obviously unaware of the fact that Joseph Wheeler came from a low income family. It was a well known fact that Joseph Wheeler lived in an apartment in the roughest part of Domino City. He lived with his father, a drunken lowlife who did nothing but sit around and gamble away his money. As a result, Wheeler had to pay off his father's debts and his own schooling by working most of his life. The figure smirked, once she found out she'd never want to lay eyes on him again, much less talk to him.

Ushio stepped away from his barricade of lockers, feeling that it was his duty as a public moral leader to inform Miss Mirasaki that the young male she was hanging out with was nothing but trash. He looked down at the beautifully wrapped box of chocolates in his large, meaty hands. They were a gift he was to give her as recompense for lowering herself to such a common state. He approached the couple, causing them to look up at once because of his great size.

"What do you want?" Joey asked, a sense of caution flooding his body. He'd never liked Ushio, especially after he'd used him, Tristan and Yugi as punching bags back in the day. Ushio smirked at Wheeler's question,

"Humph, I only wanted to give Miss Mirasaki these," He held out the purple packaged box of Sees Candies, "chocolates to express my undying affection and compensation for hanging around scum like Wheeler." Joey jumped off the bench they were seated on, pulling up his sleeves for a fist fight,

"What did you say!?" He shouted. Ushio chuckled,

"What's wrong? I only spoke the truth," He looked down at Aislynn, "Miss Mirasaki, Joseph Wheeler is nothing but dirt; he comes from a low income family in the worst part of town where he lives with his drunken father who can't even pay off his own gambling debts!" Aislynn gasped and Joey took a swing at Ushio who caught his fist easily, twisting his wrist until Joey kneeled in pain.

"Stop it, please you're hurting him!" She cried, trying to pry Ushio's hand away from Joey's wrist. Ushio looked up in surprise at her behavior and let go of Wheeler's wrist. Joey fell to the ground, clutching his wrist painfully as Aislynn knelt over him to see if he was alright,

"Joey are you okay?" She asked, her eyes full of concern. He looked up at her gratefully,

"Yeah, I'm alright, but I think I'll need to go to the nurse's office." Ushio laughed and Aislynn and Joey both glared up at him,

"That was totally uncalled for!" Aislynn shouted. Ushio was confused, she should be grateful that he exposed the truth, now she needn't dirty herself with someone so unworthy of her beauty and social standing. He rolled his eyes and handed her the chocolates again, but she wouldn't take them.

"No, I don't want them, not after what you did to my friend!" His face turned red with anger at the mention of "friend" and he set the chocolates down on the bench,

"I'm sure you'll reconsider when the reality of your relationship sets in." He said, walking in the other direction.

"Jerk." Joey muttered, holding his swollen wrist. Aislynn sighed, she was hoping to get some of her project done before class today, but now it looked as if she had to take Joey to get medical attention. She reached down and helped him get back to his feet, grabbing her backpack and the remnants of her project in the process.

"Come on; let's get you to the nurse's office." She said, never thinking to grab the purple packaged box of chocolates as they left.

* * *

It was before lunch that Aislynn paid a visit back at the nurse's office to check up on Joey. She opened the door and entered the infirmary to find her friend with his wrist in a sling.

"Hey Aislynn, what's up?" Joey greeted. She winced when she noticed the sling on his right arm.

"I just came to check up on you to see if you're okay." She explained.

"Yeah, besides the fact that that asshole fractured my wrist, I'm fine. I mean, it's not like I can really afford to miss school, I kind of need the education as you heard earlier." He looked down at the floor, a little ashamed of his living conditions.

"Oh…" She said, feeling genuinely sorry for him, "I'm really sorry." She apologized. Joey shook his head,

"Nah, don't be sorry, I get enough of that. Though after what you heard, a lady like yourself probably doesn't wanna hang out with a screwed up kid like me huh?"

"Oh no, I would never- Joey I'm not like that, honest. Disregard what that man said, I wouldn't call our friendship off because you have poor living conditions, actually, because of that fact it makes me want to be your friend all the more." Aislynn assured him, a worried expression on her face.

"Huh?" He asked, confused with her reasoning.

"Because if I'm your friend it would be easier for me to help you out." She explained.

"No no no no, you don't have to do that! I don't feel comfortable askin' for charity from anyone, especially someone like you!" Aislynn sighed,

"Okay, but if you really do need help, I'm going to give it to you whether you ask for it or not." She said crossing her arms pointedly. Joey sighed, she sure was stubborn, yet he was glad that he had made friends with her. She could be just the person to turn to if he was ever in a tough financial spot.

"Thanks." He said, getting up and heading out the door.

"Sure." She answered heading out the door after him.

As she was closing the door to the infirmary she was intercepted by a large man who cornered her and backed her up against the wall. She tried to call out for Joey but he had already disappeared around the corner and down the hall. She looked up into the face of her shady assailant to find that it was the man who had harassed them earlier.

"Pardon me, but I would like to catch up with my friend." She told him, irritated.

"I apologize for detaining you Miss Mirasaki but I'm afraid that I've forgotten to properly introduce myself." He backed up off of her, bowing to her in respect, "My name is Ushio, I am the leader of the public moral program, instilling respect and authority into my fellow students." She huffed impatiently,

"Yes, I'm sure you are; now if you'll excuse me I have a previous engagement." She tossed her hair over her shoulder haughtily as she tried to walk away from him, uninterested in anything he had to say. Ushio stopped her by taking a hold of her arm,

"I apologize for my rudeness, but if you don't mind me saying, a beauty as great as yourself needs to be pampered and taken care of, those people you call your friends don't seem to care too much about your well-being. I on the other hand realize that a great political asset to our country needs a strong, worthy individual by her side to protect her." He whispered, caressing her arm as he looked her body up and down lewdly. She shivered in disgust at his attention,

"You know something? You're absolutely right," He smiled victoriously, "but there's just one problem Mr. Ushio, you're not that strong, worthy individual." Ushio's smile dropped into a distressed frown and she pulled away from him, walking down the hall in the direction Joey had gone. Ushio stared down the empty hallway angrily, playing the previous event over in his mind over and over again until it made him crazy with rage.

'_**Mark my words Aislynn Mirasaki, you will be mine, no one else understands you the way I do. Your judgment might be clouded now, but you'll see it my way soon, very soon…'**_ He turned around to go find the rest of his public moral guys only to spot Seto Kaiba standing a few feet down the hall, glaring at him in disgust as if he'd seen the whole thing. His fists clenching and unclenching as if he tried to keep his anger on a leash. Ushio smirked, realizing that Kaiba must feel something for Miss Aislynn, otherwise he had no idea why the billionaire would be glaring at him the way he was now. He continued to walk down the hallway, knowing that Kaiba would never dare to confess he felt something for a woman and that because of this fact; Ushio would have the upper hand. Seto Kaiba might have been handsome and extremely wealthy, but when it came to kindness and sensitivity, he was out of luck.

* * *

'_**Bastard.' **_Kaiba thought, standing in the now empty hallway, _**'Him? A strong, worthy individual? I bet my last penny that he doesn't even care about her.'**_ He thought angrily, his rage making his body shake. When he'd seen Ushio harassing her, he'd been unable to do anything, his shoulder angels fighting amongst themselves. A part of him had wanted to throw Ushio against the wall and pound him with his fists until he begged for mercy, but the other part of him told him to move on and ignore them, it was none of his business. Instead he'd just stood there and watched her get harassed which for him had been the worst choice out of the three. He had to admit though, she handled herself pretty well without him so maybe she hadn't needed him after all and he was just overreacting about this whole thing. Well, whatever the case he was sure that he wouldn't be able to take seeing something like that again and next time he might just fly off the handle and hurt somebody.

* * *

Aislynn sat outside after school in the parking lot waiting for her ride to show up. She sighed, thinking about her day. After she'd walked away from Ushio, she'd met up with Joey and the others. When they'd asked her about why she'd taken so long, she'd told them she'd had to use the restrooms, she didn't want her new friends to get tangled up in her problems. Later she attended P.E., the one class that she hadn't expected to be co-ed. Growing up in a wealthy, high-class family, she was taught that it was inappropriate for a lady to compete in physical events with male students. She'd later learned that it was school regulation and that the other female students had no problems with it whatsoever. She was even more mortified to learn that she and Seto Kaiba shared the same P.E. class. She had stood there, blushing from head to toe, in her too-short shorts and simple white t-shirt, pouting angrily at the male students openly ogling her firm, shapely legs. Seto however had paid no attention; instead he'd been more interested as to why she was in the same P.E. class.

"Do you make it your goal in life to annoy the hell out of me, or is there a more logical explanation as to why you're stalking me?" He'd asked, obviously irritated to no end.

"Stalking you!?" She huffed, "Just because we have three classes together doesn't mean I'm stalking you Mr. Kaiba." She glared back at him, crossing her arms over her chest. She given up trying to melt _his _heart, it was like trying to chip snow off of cement after it's been frozen for weeks, his heart had been frozen for too long, doing what she'd once considered would be near impossible.

She brought her thoughts back to the present, suddenly feeling sorry for the enigmatic mystery that was Seto Kaiba. Once his brother left on his own, he'd be all alone in the world with nothing but his technology and his duel monsters to keep him company. It was a shame, he was a very beautiful man and combined with his riches and intelligence he was nearly impossible to resist, if he wasn't so ignorant and was more kind and understanding, he could land a girlfriend no problem. Aislynn sighed again impatiently, checking her wristwatch,

"Where is that driver of mine? He should have been here by now…" Just as she thought of it, her cell phone rang, playing the Caramelldansen tune. She answered her phone, it was her driver.

"Hello, Miss Aislynn?" He gasped on the other end, flustered.

"Yes, this is she, what is it driver? What's taking so long?" She asked, exasperated with the long wait.

"I'm truly sorry for making you wait Miss Aislynn but I'm having car trouble and I won't be able to get there for another hour, will you be okay waiting until then?" Aislynn sighed again and rolled her eyes in annoyance. The driver could tell she was angry and awaited her answer anxiously.

"Miss Aislynn, I apologize a thousand times more, this will never happen again, I swear!"

"It's alright Renaldo, I'll just walk home, it's not too far, I'm sure that I can make it safely on my own." She assured him.

"No, you mustn't, please try and wait a little longer Miss Aislynn, no lady should be out walking the streets this late, I would never forgive myself if anything happened to you!" He pleaded with her, always her faithful servant.

"Renaldo I'll be fine, I'll make sure to avoid alleyways and suspicious characters, and anyway, tons of girls my age walk home from school at this time, so you shouldn't have anything to worry about." Renaldo sighed, finally deciding to go along with her,

"Alright I'll let you go, but please Miss Aislynn, be very careful the city is a very dangerous place." He warned.

"Yes, Renaldo I promise I'll be careful, now if you please I'd like to start walking home."

"Okay, be safe Miss Aislynn, I'll see you at home." He said before hanging up. She turned her phone off as well and began her trip home.

* * *

Aislynn's walk through the city was very chilly and breezy, the cold air causing her to wrap her arms around herself. She looked up to notice the massive black thunderhead clouds forming in the sky above her and sighed,

'_**Looks like rain.'**_ She thought. They had been getting quite a lot of it lately, it was autumn after all. The sidewalk was nearly devoid of life, she figured that it must be because of the obvious chance of rain. However, despite that, she felt as if someone might be following her and felt fear run it's cold, unfeeling claws down her spine. She found herself quickening her pace until she was running, her heartbeat dancing with adrenaline. Unfortunately the presence behind her caught up with her, pinning her to the chain-link fence lining the sidewalk. Aislynn struggled painfully against the cold wire of the fence, coming face to face with a large, broad chest clothed in the black Domino High School uniform.

"Miss Mirasaki, what a surprise! I never thought I'd catch you walking out here alone this late in the afternoon." She looked up into the face of her attacker, recognizing him immediately,

"Ushio! How dare you hold me in such a compromising position!" She scolded, he laughed at her sudden burst of authority and pride.

"And here I thought I was dealing with a lady of class…" She raised an eyebrow, wondering what he was getting at,

"What are you talking about?"

"It's obvious that you're nothing but a fake, a tease if you will, you act all prim and proper when really you're nothing but a highborn slut!" She tore her hand free and smacked him across the face.

"Don't you dare talk about me like that; I am nothing of the sort!" She declared, glaring at him, her aqua eyes full of fire. He took a hold of her arm and twisted it around her back so she wouldn't be able to hit him again.

"You're nothing of the sort are you? Well, answer me this, what relationship have you with that polished pig, Seto Kaiba?" She shook her head, angry tears forming in her eyes from his painful bruising hold and his irrational accusations.

"There is nothing between us!" She shouted, her voice trembling with her tears. He smirked; obviously he had succeeded in installing fear within her being.

"Alright, if there is nothing between you, like you say, then you won't mind if I steal a taste from those luscious lips of yours would you?" He didn't give her a chance to answer, forcefully joining their lips. She kept her lips pressed together, trying to tear her face away. Finally when he had relaxed some of his hold on her body she brought up her knee hard between his legs, causing him to release his hold on her to howl in pain. She ran as fast as she could in the other direction, thunder sounding throughout the sky as she ran for the crosswalk. Rain started to pour as she neared it, the last numbers on the Walk or Don't Walk sign counting down to zero. She bolted across just as it reached zero, her eyes immediately blinded by two white headlights. The car skidded to a stop before her on the wet asphalt, the angry driver honking his horn at her. Aislynn tripped and collapsed on the asphalt in shock. She lay down in the rain, staring into the white headlights of a flame red Ferrari. Ushio finally caught up, standing on the sidewalk, smirking with triumphant glee. After moments of her lying there in front of his high beams, the driver got out of his car, slamming the door behind him.

"What the hell is going on here!?" The man shouted, Aislynn's heart jumped hopefully when she heard the man's voice, it sounded so familiar, so safe and soothing. The man had a deep and sultry voice, but she couldn't place a name to him as he shook her to see if she was alright, the headlights still blinding her.

"Hey, wake up! Are you alright?" He asked, still shaking her unresponsive form.

"Yes…I'm…alright…" She answered him weakly, finally looking up into his face. It was shrouded in shadow but she recognized his silhouette with no problem at all.

"K-Kaiba-kun?" She asked as he lifted her in his arms and carried her to the other side of the street, the opposite of Ushio.

"Are you alright? You're not hurt are you?" He asked, sitting with her on the sidewalk in the pouring rain. Obviously he had just come from school as well; he was still wearing his uniform. Renewed fear caused Aislynn to burst back into tears, holding her newly bruised arms and shaking her head,

"N-No…I'm…" She sniffed in her drivel, "fine." She lied, her body shaking with her tears. Kaiba looked at the trembling girl before him with a cold, expressionless mask, narrowing his eyes as he looked back across the street at Ushio who was now advancing toward them.

"Stay here." Kaiba advised her, retreating to the trunk of his car for something. He came back with two duel disks, tossing one to Ushio as he strapped his to his arm.

"So, we're going to duel for the girl are we?" Ushio asked. Kaiba looked back at Aislynn, sobbing and trembling; obviously Ushio had done something to her beforehand. Kaiba didn't know what that something was; he only knew that Ushio was going to suffer for it.

"I'll make you a deal Ushio, if you win, I'll move along and pretend like none of this ever happened," Aislynn overheard him and looked up at him fearfully with pleading eyes, "but if I win, you'll run home with your tail between your legs like the dog you are." Kaiba finished. Ushio smirked disbelievingly, as if he'd ever follow through with that shameful request. "But I'll have you know, the only duelist I've ever lost to is Yugi Mutoh and I doubt that your skills are up to par with his." Aislynn sighed with relief, if that was true, Kaiba was sure to win, right?

"Let's duel!" They shouted.

* * *

It was nearly an hour later and the duel still raged on. Aislynn shook with cold and nervousness, it was a pretty close duel, Ushio had matched Kaiba card for card. She had begun praying at the end of the last round for Kaiba to have some kind of lead, after all the outcome of this duel could mean life or death for her.

Kaiba smirked down at his cards; he'd drawn just what he needed to end this duel. He already had one blue-eyes white dragon out on the field and he had just drawn the other two, now all he had to do was fuse them together to create the ultimate dragon.

"Now I summon my other two blue-eyes! And I use polymerization to fuse them together to form Blue-eyes Ultimate Dragon!!!" He shouted, his command followed by guffaws of intimidating laughter. The beast roared down at its opponent, causing Ushio's eyes to grow wide with fear at the realization that he had just lost. "Now Blue-eyes attack his pathetic summoned skull and end this duel!" The dragon did as he commanded and the monster on Ushio's side of the field disappeared in a flurry of glass-like fragments. Ushio fell to his knees in defeat, glaring up at Kaiba who was cruelly smirking down at his opponent.

"That's right, fall to the ground like a whimpering dog, I guess next time you'll think twice before challenging me." Kaiba taunted, turning around to collect Aislynn. Ushio watched Kaiba walk over to Aislynn, kneeling down once again to make sure she was alright.

'_**Okay rich boy, if that's how you want to play, then game on.'**_ He thought, slipping his knife out of his pocket.

Aislynn smiled with relief as Kaiba made sure she was okay, thanking god that he had won the match. He was about to help her to his car when a dark form snuck up on him from behind,

"Look out!" She shouted, pointing behind him. Kaiba turned around too late, Ushio slicing his right side open. Aislynn covered her face with her hands fearfully, her breath caught in her throat. Kaiba slammed his elbow back, knocking Ushio's head back as he hit him square in the jaw. Kaiba hit a button on his duel disk, having the machine smack the oversized bully in the face. Ushio swung at him with his knife, Kaiba dodging his swings and occasionally countering with his duel disk. After a bit of struggling, Kaiba was finally able to get an arm around Ushio, but not before he took a large incision to the head. The wound gave Kaiba enough incentive to flip Ushio's large body over his shoulder, knocking him out cold on the rough, wet asphalt.

Kaiba stood panting, staring down loathingly at Ushio's unconscious form. Warm, fresh blood poured down the left side of his face and down his right side, turning the blue of his uniform crimson red. He kneeled to the ground, growing dizzy from his loss of blood. His vision became blurry and he was barely able to make out the slim form running towards him, calling out his name in distress,

"Kaiba-kun!" Aislynn called out, rushing to his side. Fear for his well-being had been enough to knock her out of her shock and cause her to propel herself to his rescue.

"Kaiba-kun speak to me!" She pleaded, supporting his strong body with her delicate one.

"Uuhh…Aislynn…you have to…drive me back…to the Kaiba-" He coughed up blood and bile onto her uniform, unable to continue. She nodded, tears filling her eyes at the seriousness of the situation. She carried him to the passenger's side, his warm blood staining her uniform and her lily-white skin. She helped him buckle up and ran back to the driver's side, buckling up and quickly adjusting her seat and the mirrors to fit her standards of driving. She revved up the engine and turned to him, lightly tapping his face to get him to stay with her.

"Kaiba-kun, you'll have to stay awake, I don't remember exactly where you live." She told him fearfully.

"Just…drive." He said, holding his side painfully. She did as she was told and he tried the best he could to help her.

'_**Uuhh…my eyelids, they feel so heavy, maybe she won't mind if I just take two…' **_He thought, closing his eyes as he began to dose off. He felt something smack him in the face and he opened his eyes immediately.

"Please, you can't sleep yet, I still need your help." He tried as hard as he could to keep his eyes in working order.

"Just…take a left…on this next street and- He coughed again, this time all over himself and Aislynn winced, it sounded painful, "take a right on the one after that…" he rasped, staining his leather seats with more blood as he coughed again. She did as he said and they finally arrived at the iron gates of the Kaiba Mansion. Aislynn drove up to the front doors and got out, helping the now unconscious KaibaCorp CEO out of the passenger's side. The bodyguards positioned at the door rushed over to help them, one of them contacting the others in the house that Mr. Kaiba was badly injured. Aislynn helped carry him through the front doors where she saw Mokuba sprinting down the stairs in concern for his brother.

"Seto! Seto are you alright!? Aislynn what happened to him!?" He inquired fearfully, his cerulean eyes welling up with tears as he saw his brother's bloodied uniform. Aislynn let the bodyguards handle Seto and went to comfort the twelve-year-old boy. She took him into her arms as he clung to her blood stained uniform whispering to him that everything was going to be okay even though she wasn't really sure.

* * *

Seto was put to bed and given medical care immediately. The doctors stitched and bandaged both of his wounds and assured both Aislynn and Mokuba that Seto would be just fine. But the doctor warned them that he could acquire a life threatening fever if the wounds were to become infected. Aislynn thanked the doctor and escorted Mokuba to his bedroom where she tucked him into bed.

"Will Seto really be alright?" He asked her, his big, beautiful doe eyes still moist and red from tears. She nodded, smiling weakly.

"Yes, I'll make sure of it Mokuba. I'm going to stay with him and make sure he gets better." She assured him. He smiled back at her, yawning.

"That's good, in the morning, tell him how worried I was okay?" He said, closing his eyes as he started to dose off. She laughed,

"Don't worry, I'll tell him." Aislynn leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, "Goodnight Mokuba and sweet dreams." She turned off his lamp and headed for the door. She closed it behind her and walked down the hallway to Seto's room. She made herself comfortable in the chair placed beside his bed, watching him for a while as he slept. Sweat covered his well-toned body in a light sheen, his chestnut-colored hair matted to his forehead. He lay on his back, his face turned to her.

'_**He looks so peaceful in sleep.'**_ She thought as she watched the steady rise and fall of his naked chest. After a while of watching him her eyelids started to droop from lack of sleep, exhaustion taking over her body. Sleep had fogged her brain so badly that she found herself wanting to be under those soft covers with him, held in the embrace of those strong arms. She laid her head down on the mattress, her aqua eyes closing as sleep overcame her and dreams of her rescuer began to play out in her mind.

* * *

And on that note I end this chapter because like Aislynn, my eyelids are heavy too! Anyway I hoped you liked it and I apologize that it was so late! My computer has been having virus problems and I've been having to do a lot of house cleaning, not to mention studying for college! This is probably the last update I'll post before I start my class so I wouldn't expect updates so close together anymore…:[ But anyways, leave me a review and I'll try to get back to you! JoBro-Fangirl out! XP


	8. The Dragon has a Heart?

Greetings everybody! It seemed that I wouldn't have enough time to write anything once I started college, but I guess I was wrong, in fact I have plenty of time! So I hope you guys like this chapter, there isn't much action, but there is some romance for all of you who like the warm fuzzies, I know I do! Squeeee! And if you're wondering, yes I did do some symbolism research for this chapter and I will continue to do it for later chapters. Anyways, I hope you like it! (And in case you're wondering, regular italization means that it's a dream sequence. Or a disclaimer.)

_Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of it's characters, this is purely for the fans' enjoyment. The song, "Everytime We Touch" belongs to Cascada, not me._

Chapter 8

The Dragon Has a Heart?

_**I still hear your voice when you sleep next to me;**_

_**I still feel your touch in my dreams;**_

_**Forgive me my weakness, but I don't know why;**_

_**Without you it's hard to survive;**_

'_**Cause every time we touch, I get this feeling;**_

_**And everytime we kiss I swear I could fly;**_

_**Can't you feel my heart beat fast, I want this to last;**_

_**Need you by my side;**_

'_**Cause everytime we touch, I feel the static;**_

_**And everytime we kiss, I reach for the sky;**_

_**Can't you hear my heart beat so…**_

_**I can't let you go;**_

_**Want you in my life;**_

_**Your arms are my castle, your heart is my sky;**_

_**They wipe away tears that I cry;**_

_**The good and the bad times, we've been through them all;**_

_**You make me rise when I fall;**_

'_**Cause everytime we touch, I get this feeling;**_

_**And everytime we kiss I swear I could fly;**_

_**Can't you feel my heart beat fast, I want this to last;**_

_**Need you by my side;**_

'_**Cause everytime we touch, I feel the static;**_

_**And everytime we kiss, I reach for the sky;**_

_**Can't you hear my heart beat so…**_

_**I can't let you go;**_

_**Want you in my life;**_

'_**Cause everytime we touch, I get this feeling;**_

_**And everytime we kiss I swear I could fly;**_

_**Can't you feel my heart beat fast, I want this to last;**_

_**Need you by my side.**_

_**-Everytime We Touch; Cascada-**_

_He was standing in the middle of a field. A field populated by orange tiger lilies. The scent of the flowers was extremely nostalgic, it was so familiar that it made his heart clench with longing. For what or whom he knew not. Seto kneeled down in the orange, seductively-scented patch of flowers, the harshness of his fever preventing him from going very far. The field stretched on for miles and all he could see on the horizon was the orange-yellow of sunset. He wore a white button-up shirt and a pair of black pants. He sighed as a cool breeze blew his way, cooling his fever a considerable amount. With the calming breeze came a figure over the horizon. As the figure came closer he realized that it was a woman. The woman had long, beautiful white hair and lovely sapphire-blue eyes. __**'Kisara…'**_ _he thought as she approached him. She wore a short evening gown of a deep ocean blue, a lovely, yet simple dress. It held no special adornments; it was just a glittering, blue dress. Kisara's white hair fluttered in the wind, the long strands caressing her alabaster-white skin. She smiled at him. It was a pained smile, but nevertheless, an accepting smile. Her blue eyes filled with tears as she looked at him one last time. Kisara then closed her eyes and disappeared in a white burst of light, revealing a different figure. This figure he could not make out at first, not until the remnants of white light had subsided. This woman he recognized immediately,_

"_Aislynn." He said out loud. He gazed at her with feverish, lovelorn eyes; she was perhaps, the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. Unlike Kisara, Aislynn wore a long, intricately designed, white gown. The long sleeves were made of lace, the silk bodice outlined in gold. The long skirt was lined in lace and made a flowery appearance as it tangled around her legs in the soft breeze. Her long, black hair shone blue in the fading sunlight. It was styled as usual, her hair, it trailed down her back in unruly waves and curls until it reached her hips. Aislynn wore no adornment upon her head but instead there was a pendant encircled around her delicate throat. The pendant was of a white dragon with blue eyes, his favorite dragon. _

_Aislynn kneeled before him, gazing up at him with her aquamarine gaze as if they were the most ardent of lovers. A shiver of heat came over him as he realized that he had secretly wanted it to be so. She gently pushed his bangs back, her soft hand cool against his hot forehead. She removed her hand and stared at his mouth as if longing for a kiss. He smirked and leaned in to appease her, the apparition before him disappearing in a cloud of fog._

_Suddenly the sky became black and the ground was covered in fog, the tiger lilies wilting and disappearing into barren soil. His fever became worse, the calming breeze becoming a cold, heartless draft. He suddenly felt an intense sadness looking around at his surroundings; he was all alone, faced with the ugly truth, the world's true face, his world's true face. He began to cry, the reality of it setting in, his life could never be like that peaceful field of tiger lilies, only a desolate wasteland of loneliness._

* * *

The sunlight seeping in through the deep blue curtains of his bedroom was enough to awaken Seto Kaiba from his feverish slumber. His body was covered in a sheen of cold sweat, the satin sheets of his bed tangled around his lower body. He tried too soon to rise only to collapse back into his bed, feeling the effects of a powerful dizzy spell. He laid his head back against the pillow, closing his eyes until the spinning ceased. It was then when he caught a whiff of the familiar scent of tiger lilies. He opened his eyes and looked to his right. There, with her head resting on her arms on the bed slept Aislynn. Her long hair trailed down over her shoulder, the ends of the strands curling around her left arm. Long, full eyelashes rested against plump, ivory cheeks, flushed red from sleep. His gaze brought him to her lips, full, luscious and slightly parted as if waiting for a kiss. Seto considered leaning forward and indulging himself with a taste of those lush lips, but then thought better of it when he saw her eyelashes flutter open. She rubbed the sleepiness from her eyes and groaned as if she hadn't gotten enough sleep the night before. Aislynn noticed he was awake and her eyes brightened up, her lips turning up into a sleepy smile.

"Good morning!" She called happily. Still feeling the effects of his fever, all Seto was able to do was stare at her with sleepy eyes, confused as to why she was there. She got up off the bed, revealing that she was still wearing her school uniform, but he noticed that it was heavily stained with blood, _his_ blood. The rusty, metallic scent assailed his nose and he remembered what had happened the night before.

"You probably don't remember much of last night; you were a little comatose through most of it. I drove you back here after Ushio injured you. You lost quite a bit of blood on the way back here and your skin took on a deathly pallor. We were all really worried about you…Mokuba was crying." She looked down at the ground almost pensively, "Anyway, the doctor stitched you up and told us to keep an eye on you should you catch a fever…" Aislynn looked back at him, noticing his heavy-lidded eyes and his reddened complexion, signs of a sick person. "Oh, but it looks like you already have a fever." She cooed, angry with herself for not staying up with him and being more responsible. She reached over to feel his forehead and check for any signs that he had a fever. He closed his eyes in ecstasy and sighed feeling her cool hand against his flaming-hot forehead. Aislynn sighed in dismay, turning to the nightstand in search of the thermometer. Seto, finally finding the strength to rise, sat up in bed.

Aislynn found the thermometer and as she turned around to put it in her patient's mouth, she found him trying to get up out of bed.

"Kaiba-kun no!" She shouted, running over to the other side of the bed to try and prevent him from getting up. Her delicate hands clutched his muscular shoulders in an attempt to push him back into bed. "No Kaiba-kun please, you mustn't, you're still very weak!" Seto looked up at her in a feverish daze,

'_**Kaiba-kun? When did she start calling me that?'**_ Aislynn blushed to the roots of her hair as she realized their positions. He was bare-chested and his body was muscular and well-toned. The second-half of Seto's torso was covered in bandages, while the rest of him was covered in a thin sheen of sweat. His chestnut-brown hair was mussed from sleep and most of it matted against his forehead, shadowing his pretty, sapphire gaze from view.

"May I at least use the bathroom?" He asked, a little irritated. She let go of his shoulders and the shade of her face turned an even deeper red.

"I-I'm sorry! I'm invading your personal space aren't I? Excuse me, I should go I think you can take care of yourself." She laughed, embarrassed by her behavior. She walked to the door, placing her hand upon the knob.

"Wait," He called after her, "a few days ago, you tried to apologize to me and I just blew you off…I apologize for that." He said. She looked back at him curiously, wondering if he was being sincere or if it was just the fever talking. She realized it was probably the latter; Seto Kaiba didn't apologize to anyone. "And by the way, thanks…for saving me."

"Oh no thank-you for saving _me_! If you hadn't shown up when you did, I…" She sighed, looking down at the floor, "Well, I probably wouldn't be here right now, or my reputation would be in shreds. I owe you my life Kaiba-kun." He chuckled to himself, smirking,

"You have quite the knack for getting into trouble." He commented, continuing to laugh. She smiled, laughing with him as she realized that his rare laughter was extremely contagious,

"Yes, I suppose I do." She continued to laugh until she heard him groan in pain. She looked over to see him clutching his right side painfully, his breath coming out in harsh gasps of discomfort. Aislynn crossed the room to see if he was alright,

"I can help you to the bathroom if you want." She offered.

"No, I'm fine; I just laughed too hard is all." He said, coughing as he tried to laugh. "I'm going to kill that bastard." He mumbled under his breath. Aislynn resisted the urge to laugh, realizing he was talking about Ushio. She watched him as he got up and crossed to the bathroom, wobbling every now and then from the effects of his dizzy spell. She waited until he was done, only to have him cross to his dresser and rummage through it for something to wear.

"Kaiba-kun, you're sick, you need to rest." She pleaded. Seto ceased his rummaging and looked back at her, the sheets from his bed wrapped around his hips like a makeshift half-tunic.

"If I rested, nothing would get done at KaibaCorp and I'd have even more work to deal with." He muttered, looking at her as if she should know. She squinted her eyes in confusion,

"You have other workers, don't you? Can't they handle it?" He began to laugh, though not so much as to irritate his side wound.

"If I let those simpletons handle my work, they'd screw up everything I've worked so hard to achieve." She lowered her gaze in understanding of his reasoning,

"Well, then I have a proposition for you Mr. Kaiba, I'll help you with your work as payment for rescuing me." He turned around, looking at her with disbelief,

"Humph, how much do you know about computers?" She sighed in frustration,

"Enough to get you to stay home and go back to sleep." He grunted in irritation, scowling at the fact that he probably wasn't going to get the answer to his question. She brought her hands together as if she were about to say a prayer,

"Please Kaiba-kun, stay home just until your fever comes down." He looked into her pleading, worried gaze and nodded, finding it extremely difficult to say no to those big blue eyes. His answer caused her to smile from cheek to cheek. Aislynn crossed the short distance between them and hugged him around the waist, causing him to give a painful grunt of surprise. She helped him settle back into bed and made him take some of the pain medicine the doctor left to help him sleep. Once he closed his eyes and she heard his gentle snoring she got up and left him alone in his room.

As she was walking down the hall, she realized that her uniform was still marked with Kaiba's blood. Half of her pink jacket was stained a deep red and she didn't have anything else to wear so she removed the jacket and decided to wear the white undershirt instead. She stuffed the jacket into her backpack and resumed her mission. She went to Roland, the Kaiba brothers' driver and closest employee, informing him that Mr. Kaiba was still very ill and that he needed someone to watch over him until his fever went down. Aislynn was then informed that Mokuba had already been driven to school and that he wouldn't know the news of his brother's recovery until he returned. Aislynn looked at the time; school had already been in session for two hours. She panicked and let herself out the door, telling them she'd be back to check up on the older Kaiba later.

* * *

Renaldo, Aislynn's faithful driver and devoted friend was pacing back and forth in the kitchen of Aislynn's home, worried for Aislynn's welfare.

"I knew I shouldn't have let her go! What was I thinking, the girl's barely eighteen and she was raised in a highly prestigious environment, there was no way she could have survived out there alone!" Renaldo looked out the window for the fiftieth time in distress as if waiting for Aislynn to come waltzing down the street. His bulky form was dumping buckets of sweat; he knew that if the late prime minister's daughter turned up dead somewhere that it would be all his fault. He'd probably get thrown into prison, accused of murdering her! Just as he thought about it, his cell phone rang, the number turning out to be Aislynn's. He pushed the talk button with shaky hands,

"Hello? Miss Aislynn is that you!?" He asked nervously, hoping it wasn't someone who'd decided to kidnap her and ask for a ransom.

"Yes Renaldo, it's me I'm fine-

"Miss Aislynn, you nearly gave me a heart attack last night! Where have you been!?" He demanded, nearly shouting into the receiver.

"Look Renaldo, it's a long story, I'll tell you on the way to school, in the meantime can you come pick me up? I'm at the Kaiba Mansion." She sounded so calm, as if it wasn't such a big deal that she had been missing for the past seventeen hours.

"The Kaiba Mansion?" He asked, immensely puzzled. _**'What would she be doing there?' **_He thought. "Alright, I'm coming, but we're going to talk about your little adventure on the way young lady!" She laughed on the other end,

"Renaldo I'm fine, just hurry up and get over here, I've already missed two hours of class!"

* * *

Aislynn and Renaldo had talked all the way to school about what had happened the night before. Although Aislynn had conveniently left out the part where Ushio had hurt Kaiba, she did tell him about what Ushio had tried to do to her and about how Kaiba had fought for her honor.

Now she sat in her Calculus class, looking back and forth at the empty seat behind her as if willing the person who sat there to suddenly appear. She was really worried about him, for she knew he would try to return to work as soon as he could, fever or not. As a result of her worried state, she couldn't pay much attention in class and found herself thinking of the worst possible scenarios, her fingers itching to dial his number to make sure he was okay. Once Calculus was over, she bolted out of the classroom to avoid being overrun by her fanboys. She continued to run down the corridor, turning the corner as fast as she could only to run smack dab into someone's chest. She fell backwards and hit the ground, dropping her books. She rubbed her bottom while listening to a gaggle of girls laughing at her. She looked up to notice that she'd run into an extremely attractive young man. He had long, dark hair pulled back into a ponytail, his long bangs shadowing his face and bringing to light his cat-like enigmatic green eyes. He had darker skin than most of the students there, but that didn't make him less attractive, in fact it seemed to make him more popular. He reached out his hand to help her up,

"I'm sorry; I must not have been paying attention to where I was going." He apologized. Behind him stood a crowd of girls, all narrowing their eyes at her in jealousy.

"Oh no, it's alright I think that was my fault." She said, picking her books up off the ground. The boy looked at her for a second as if trying to recognize her,

"Hmm, you must be the new girl everyone's talking about, Aislynn Mirasaki right?"

"That's right." She answered, continuing to clean up her mess. The boy leaned down to help her,

"Here, let me help you with that. The name's Duke by the way, Duke Devlin." She shook his hand very delicately and lady-like,

"It's a pleasure." She commented politely.

"I see that I'm in the presence of a real lady, everyone does say that you come from a very prestigious family…anyway, who do you hang out with? Cause you can hang out with me and my friends if you don't have anywhere else to go." He offered.

"That's okay; I've already found people I like to hang out with."

"Really? Who?" He asked, half-expecting her to name a group of rich snobs.

"Well there's Yugi, Joey-

"What? You hang out with those guys?" He asked, genuinely surprised. She nodded.

"Yes, what's wrong with them?" She narrowed her eyes at him as if daring him to say something bad about her new friends.

"Oh no, nothing's wrong with them, it's just that I hang out with them sometimes too!" Aislynn gasped,

"Oh yeah! Yugi told me that there was someone I hadn't met yet! That must be you!" He scratched the back of his head,

"Yeah, I've been sick for about a week with pneumonia, that's why you haven't met me yet." He said, getting back to his feet. He held out his hand to help her up again and this time she took it. He used both hands to tug her to her feet, making the mistake of putting too much pressure on her forearm. She sucked in her breath painfully and pulled her arm away from his grip. She slid her sleeve up over her wrist to reveal many black and blue bruises from last night.

"I'm sorry, did I hurt you? I guess I don't know my own strength…" Duke smiled guiltily. He paused, noticing the many bruises dotting her forearm. He grabbed her wrist gently but firmly to look at her bruises. "Hey, where did you get these? You don't have an abusive boyfriend that I need to beat up do you?" He asked sincerely. She smiled nervously, he really didn't know how true that statement would have been a few weeks ago…

"I-It's nothing!" She squealed, pulling her arm away to rub it again. "I was just walking home from school one day and I tripped on the sidewalk." Duke looked at her with a deadpanned expression; obviously he didn't believe her for a second.

"Really? You tripped on the sidewalk?" He asked reaching over to grab her other arm and pull the sleeve up to reveal more bruises. "Well, if that's true, why do all of your bruises look like fingerprints?" Aislynn sighed in dismay, she had never been a good liar.

"I'm guessing that after I tell you what happened you're going to tell Yugi and the others right?" Duke nodded his head.

"You shouldn't keep things like this from your friends, that's what they're there for." She sighed again, getting ready to tell her tale.

"Well, this is what happened…"

* * *

After hearing her tale, Duke demanded that she tell her story to Yugi and the others. She felt like she was being lead by the wrist like a lamb to slaughter as he ushered her over to their usual spot. Yugi was the first to spot them,

"Hey, it looks like you guys finally met each other!" He commented.

"Yeah, we ran into each other in the hallway." Duke explained, pulling Aislynn in front of him. "While we were talking I found out something that Aislynn neglected to tell you about." The others overheard their conversation and turned around, all looking pointedly at Aislynn for answers. She sighed and carefully pulled her sleeves up, revealing her bruises to the world. The others gasped and Yugi grabbed a hold of her right wrist, examining her bruises.

"What happened to you Aislynn? Did someone do this to you?" He asked. Joey came around to the front of the group and stood next to Yugi,

"Aislynn, why didn't you tell us someone hurt you?" Aislynn's facial features took on an expression of shame. She looked up shamefully at Duke who only nodded his head as if telling her to get on with it. She sighed again and averted her eyes to the ground.

"I didn't tell anyone because…well I didn't want to be a burden and I didn't want you to worry about me." She said, Yugi let go of her wrist, letting it drop back to her side. Tea came over to her side and put an arm around her shoulders in a very sister-like manner as if she'd known Aislynn forever.

"You wouldn't have been a burden, sure we would have worried about you, but that's what friends are supposed to do, right?" Tea asked, saying the exact same thing Duke had said earlier in the hallway. Aislynn felt tears forming in her eyes, she'd never had many friends, and not nearly as many of them had been this true. Though it was a heartfelt moment, she willed herself not to cry. She looked up into the faces of her friends, all waiting patiently for her to tell them what happened. Aislynn took a deep, shuddering breath and began to tell her story.

"Well, what happened was, I was forced to walk home from school because my limousine driver had car troubles. He told me that I should stay there until he was able to pick me up, but I had a lot of homework and I didn't have time to wait for him. So I set out on my own and I ran into Ushio." Everyone was silent as they listened to her tale, but suddenly she felt as if she couldn't say anymore, her pride preventing her from doing so. Duke then stepped in to goad her on,

"Come on Aislynn, tell them what that scumbag did to you." Her voice was shaky as she began again,

"He backed me up against the chain-link fence that borders the sidewalk and tried to force a kiss on me because he was convinced that I was nothing but a slut and I was saving myself for Seto Kaiba." Joey's expression turned into one of blunt rage,

"What!? Where is that bastard!? I'll tear him limb from limb!" Joey exclaimed, Tristan held him by the arms,

"Hold on there loverboy, don't get too ahead of yourself, Aislynn's not done telling us what happened." Joey sighed in exasperation,

"Fine, but after she's done I'm gonna go find Ushio and kick his ass!" Joey declared.

"I'm with you all the way!" Tristan shouted, cracking his knuckles. Aislynn couldn't help but smile at Joey and Tristan's latter statements and resumed telling her story.

"So anyway, I was able to kick him in a very sensitive area and run away, but while I was running across the crosswalk I was nearly run over by Seto Kaiba himself. I fell into a state of shock after that and I wasn't able to comprehend much. I only know that Kaiba-kun faced Ushio in a duel and saved my life." Everyone looked at her with surprised yet confused expressions,

"What? Kaiba really stood up for you?" Bakura asked in disbelief. Aislynn nodded.

"I know, I thought the same thing when she told me." Duke said.

"That's not all that happened, after Kaiba-kun won, Ushio pulled out a knife and stabbed him in two places, above his left eye and down his right side." The others winced, "They got into a fist fight and luckily Kaiba-kun was victorious. He lost a lot of blood from the fight and I had to drive him back to his home before he lost consciousness."

"Is he alright?" Yugi asked. She nodded,

"Fortunately yes, he should be doing fine as long as he's staying in bed and taking his medicine like I told him to! The doctor gave me strict instructions that if he should acquire a fever then he should stay in bed and get plenty of fluids until it ceases." She said, sounding like a mother hen.

"Kaiba never does anything he's told, so if I were you I wouldn't be surprised if you find him collapsed on his living room floor." Tristan commented, Aislynn gasped, her face paling in fear for Kaiba's welfare. Tristan noticed it and waved his hands defensively,

"I-I meant nothing by it, it was just a joke, honest! I'm sure Kaiba's fine, really!"

"Yes, I think you're right, nobody's that stubborn…" The others all looked at her with a deadpanned expression, realizing that she really didn't know Kaiba all that well…

"Well, I guess because rich boy's bedridden, it gives me all the more reason to kick Ushio ass!" Joey said, starting off in the other direction, determined to find the bully and bring him to justice.

"You do know that Ushio isn't here today right?" Bakura called after him. Joey stopped in his tracks and came stomping back to the group.

"What? What do you mean he's not here today?" Joey demanded.

"Oh yeah that's right, I heard some of the other public moral guys talking earlier," Tea remembered, "they were saying that someone found him unconscious in the middle of the road and he was rushed to the hospital. They also said he had a few head injuries and a few cuts here and there but he won't be back for about a week."

"Aaaahhh! Damnit Kaiba!" Joey whined, "Sorry Aislynn, I guess I'll have to avenge you some other time." He apologized. She laughed,

"It's okay Joey."

"Hey, is it just me or does anyone else think it's weird that Kaiba would risk his life for anyone other than Mokuba?" Duke asked, "Think about it, if that were any of us, he would have either run us over in his Ferrari or left us to the mercy of Ushio." Tristan rubbed his chin in thought,

"Hey he's right, maybe that means he has the hots for Aislynn!" Tristan deducted.

"What? Rich boy? That guy's personality is buried deeper than my grandparents!" Joey argued. Aislynn shook her head,

"Joey's right, Kaiba-kun doesn't care about me, in fact he's been quite rude to me on a few occasions." She denied.

"See Duke, you've been proven wrong!" Joey declared.

"Oh come on Joey, look at her! She's beautiful, wealthy, sophisticated and above all, she's intelligent, why _wouldn't_ Kaiba fall for someone like her?" Aislynn blushed bright red, uncomfortable at being put on the spot.

"Because Seto Kaiba doesn't fall for anyone!" Joey pointed out. Yugi stepped in to prove him wrong,

"Don't be so sure Joey, Kaiba might have more of a heart then he lets on."

"Actually I think Yugi's right," Aislynn said, thinking about what happened the night before, "if he hadn't stepped in like that, I probably wouldn't be here today." Joey sprouted an idea at Aislynn's words,

"Aislynn, I've got an idea, I think that I can turn you into a pro street-fighter in no time, and then you won't have to worry about punks like Ushio anymore." _**'And rich boy won't have to save you anymore…'**_ he silently added.

"Really? That would be great! You really know how to fight?" She exclaimed excitedly. He nodded,

"Yeah, back in the old days before I got hooked up with these guys I used to be in a gang." He scratched his head nervously, "Actually, instead of going to school I spent most of my time fighting."

"Oh," She winced, "Well, it would be a pleasure to learn from an expert like you Wheeler-sama." The others palmed their foreheads,

"Aislynn, don't give him a bigger head than he already has!" Tristan warned.

'_**Heh, heh "Wheeler-sama" I could definitely get used to that…'**_ he thought, ignoring Tristan's comment.

"Alright Aislynn, show me what ya got!" Joey exclaimed, taking on a fighting stance.

"Pardon me?" She asked.

"Come on; give me your best shot!" He told her.

"Um, okay." She said, putting her backpack on the ground next to the tree. She got into her own fighting stance and pulled her arm back and punched,

"Hi-ya!" She shouted, totally missing Joey's palm and hitting him square in the stomach. The others cringed as they watched Joey fall to the ground, clutching his stomach painfully. They all started laughing as Aislynn ran over to help him.

"Oh my gosh! Joey are you okay!?" He groaned painfully and forced a smile,

"I might be alright, if you kiss it better." She scowled at him and hit him in the shoulder, causing him to cringe. The others were still laughing, barely able to keep their sides from splitting when Joey finally got to his feet. Joey didn't speak again until everyone ceased their laughter.

"Judging from what just happened, I'd say that it won't take long for me to turn you into a pro-fighter! We can even call it date if you want!" Joey chuckled; everyone else shook their head or rolled their eyes. Aislynn nodded,

"Alright, when should we go out?" She asked. Joey thought for a moment, realizing the important date he had this week.

"Oh! I've got it! Let's go out on Friday!" He decided just as the school bell rang to signal that class was about to start.

"Fine then, Friday it is!" Aislynn agreed, "See you tomorrow morning!" She called behind her as she ran to her next class. Joey stood there, watching as she left, unable to keep the love-struck grin off his face. Tristan came up behind him,

"You do know that Friday is Serenity's-

"Yes, of course I know! I want Serenity to meet her is all." Tristan nodded and began to walk to class, leaving Joey with his prideful thoughts.

* * *

It was 5 o'clock at the Kaiba Mansion and Seto Kaiba still hadn't gotten any work done, per Aislynn's request. He sat on the sofa in his living room, finally clothed. He noticed not too long after he'd dressed himself that he was wearing the same clothes he'd been wearing in his dream, a loose white button-up shirt and a pair of black pants. He'd thought about the dream several times since Aislynn's departure which he thought was very strange since he was never one to dwell on dreams or that kind of nonsense. When she'd given him medicine to put him back to sleep he found himself wanting her to stay so he could hold her as a child holds their favorite stuffed animal. The image brought him peace and though his fever had nearly ceased, he found himself wanting to plunge back into that fitful world of slumber so that he could dream about her again. As if complying with his wishes, his eyes became heavy-lidded and he could feel himself dozing off again. He was nearly asleep when the doorbell rang.

'_**Who could that be?'**_ He thought, curious but irritated at the same time. Usually the only people who came knocking on his door were reporters, salesmen, other businessmen, or people who liked to claim that he ruined their lives. Seto opened the door and who should he find standing there but the girl that he had dreamt about all day, Aislynn Mirasaki.

Aislynn turned around to see that not Roland or Mokuba but Seto himself had answered the door. He still looked pretty bad and she felt sorry for him.

"Kaiba-kun, you look awful, what are you doing out of bed?" She asked. It figured, he thought, that the girl of his dreams in real life was a total nag.

"It's my body Mirasaki, if I want to end up comatose on my couch that's my decision."

"Oh, right." She answered guiltily, realizing she was invading his space again. "Well, I just came to check up on you, I've been worried about you all day." A flicker of emotion went across his face at her reply. _She_ was worried about _him_?

"Why should you worry? I'm capable of taking care of myself." He said undauntedly.

"I'm sure you are, Mr. Kaiba. I suppose you want to know why I was worried." He just stared at her as if silently wishing her to proceed. "Well the reason is, my mother. I was very young, only six years old when she died, but I still remember how it happened. She was a very hard worker, like yourself, but instead of the type of business you're used to, she worked in show business. She loved the stage; it was like her second home. Though she was the Prime Minister's wife it never stopped her from doing the one thing she loved, singing. Unfortunately she had always been so frail and delicate so she could never work herself too hard or else she'd come down with a really bad sickness. She'd caught a horrible case of the flu once but she decided not to tell anyone she was sick. She performed with it until she was too sick to get up out of bed. The doctors told us that it was too late; there wasn't much they could do for her. She lasted out the rest of the week and then after I went to bed that final night, she was gone." A tear traced down her left cheek and she sobbed, unable to control her emotions. She looked down at the ground, unable to look at him now that she had started to cry. Seto reached out a hand and gently wiped her tears away. He wrapped his strong arms around her shaking form, taking a deep breath of her tiger-lily-scented tresses. It felt so good to hold her in his arms that his mind sighed with ecstasy. He held her against his chest as she cried, her tears staining his shirt. She rested her head on his shoulder, looking up at him with tear-filled eyes. They were so beautiful, her eyes, filled with crystalline tears they reminded him of the ocean at sunrise.

"Kaiba-kun…" She murmured sweetly. He shook his head, desire making his eyes look like real sapphires.

"Call me Seto." He whispered against her lips. Her own eyes became heavy lidded with desire as she said his name,

"Seto…" His name passed her lips in the loveliest baritone he'd ever heard; never would he have thought that a woman could say his name in a way that pleased him so.

"Say it again." He panted. She smirked seductively and did as she was told,

"Seto..." She said, sighing as he licked his way into her mouth. He groaned as her soft, wet lips responded to his kiss. It was a thorough, dominating kiss and she liked it. She gently bit his bottom lip as if begging for more and he acquiesced her, kissing her roughly while his hands subconsciously roamed her body. Her delicate fingers roamed through his hair, gently massaging his scalp. She gave a sound of protest as he gave her one last kiss, sucking on her bottom lip as if she were made of candy. He smirked at her obvious frustration and pulled away, gaining back his composure. She cleared her throat, running a hand through her long, midnight locks, her cheeks still flushed with desire.

"Well, I had better be going; Renaldo will have a fit if I keep him waiting too long. Goodbye…Seto." She smiled, starting down his driveway. He caught up with her and grabbed her by the wrist,

"Wait, don't go." He said, stopping her in her tracks. She looked up at him in askance. "Um, I want you to stay," what the hell was he doing? He thought, asking her to stay with him? Didn't she pose as a threat to him earlier? "Look, it's just that Mokuba needs a woman around the house to teach him manners and things like that…" He said, making up an excuse, he was never good at these things…

She stared at him, amused.

"So, you want me to…baby-sit Mokuba?" She asked, arching a brow in confusion.

"Well sort of, it's just…will you stay?" He asked. She slipped her wrist out of his grip, politely refusing him,

"You don't want me to live with you." She said simply, "I'd just be in the way." She said sadly. She tried to leave again but he stopped her grabbing her gently by the wrist again,

"Aislynn," He scolded, "tell me what you _want_ to do." She lowered her head, her heart pounding with fear at being in a new relationship. She felt like she would cry again. She looked up at him; finally he was sincere for once in his life. Aislynn couldn't afford to be in another relationship right now, not after she'd gotten rid of her other boyfriend so soon. She barely knew Seto Kaiba, and she didn't know if her heart could take another abusive boyfriend… Yet when she looked up into those sapphire depths, she couldn't bring herself to say no, a part of her needed him, needed him so badly she knew that it must have shown on her face from time to time.

"Yes," She answered shakily, "yes, I want to stay with you." She said it as if her life depended upon this one answer.

"Then stay." He said, his usual emotionless expression returning. She smiled up at him and nodded,

"Okay." She answered, gazing up at him with stars in her eyes. She turned around and ran to tell her driver she'd be staying. Seto watched her for a time until he felt the chill of the cold night air, causing him to retreat back inside.

Aislynn waved goodbye to her driver as he sped off into the night. She then looked back at the place where she'd be staying. She could sense that she'd be staying there for a while and instead of feeling nervous or uncertain, she felt a sense of security, and she felt as if she already belonged there. While staying alone at her own home she'd felt lonely and insecure, nothing like what she felt now.

'_**Thank-you Seto.' **_She thought, following the path up to her new home.

* * *

**Aww…that was such a cute ending! Don't you agree!? =3 Anyway, I tried to upload this chapter sooner, but for some reason fanfiction just wouldn't let me do it! And that was the only night that week where I had time to do that because I spent most of my time the next two days with my stepdad and I just didn't find the time...sorry it took so long! And about Seto's dream sequence because I know that some of you are dying to know what it means, I uploaded another page where it explains all you need to know about it!  
**

**Well that's all! I hope you guys liked it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Now be a dear and leave me a review! :) **


	9. Dream Sequence Explanation

Dream Sequence Explanation

**Okay! Let's get to it then! I did do some dream and flower interpretation to help me come up with a good dream sequence for Seto and now I'm going to explain what those symbols mean without giving too much of the story away. So first I'm going to start with the Tiger Lilies.**

**Tiger Lilies**

Tiger lilies are a very feminine flower in that they reflect the qualities of mercy, compassion, kindness and unconditional love, qualities that we know Seto has none of. But on the other hand its orange color symbolizes courage, joy, productivity and pride as well as personal wealth and career success. In a way the flower turned out to symbolize both Aislynn and Seto because it reflected their personality traits and since it is thought of as a fertility flower it could also represent their sexual attraction towards each other.

**Fields**

In the dream Seto saw fields of tiger lilies and fields of flowers or fields that have been untouched by a lawn mower reflect great abundance, freedom and happiness. In his dream it represented the fact that he wants all of those things in his life. The fields also symbolize that he is going through a period of growth in his life, which he is, letting Aislynn live with him is basically his first step through the growth process.

**Breeze**

There was a brief mention of a cooling breeze and this basically symbolizes that the movement of ideas and minor changes are happening in Seto's life.

**Kisara's Simple Blue Gown**

To see an evening gown it represents enjoyment, social pleasures, grace and culture. However, Kisara's gown was simple and not very ornate, therefore it symbolizes that she lead a very simplified lifestyle. Because the gown was blue it represented truth, wisdom, heaven, eternity, devotion, tranquility, loyalty, and openness. It also symbolizes her as Seto's spiritual guide.

**Aislynn's Intricate White Gown**

Aislynn's evening gown on the other hand was very ornate and detailed symbolizing that she leads an elaborate and luxurious lifestyle. Because the gown was white it represented purity, perfection, peace, innocence, dignity, cleanliness, awareness, and new beginnings. The white of her gown also symbolizes that Seto is experiencing a "reawakening" or is having a fresh outlook on life.

**Fog**

When Seto leaned in to kiss Aislynn she disappeared in a fog and the ground became covered in it, killing off the tiger lilies. The fog symbolizes confusion, troubles, scandal, uncertainty and worries, it is also interpreted that Seto may have lost his sense of direction in life. Basically the fog had to do with major foreshadowing and Seto's worries of getting into a relationship.

**Black Sky**

The sky was cloudy and overcast, foretelling of sadness and trouble. Because it was black it represented the unknown, unconscious, danger, mystery, darkness, death, mourning, hate or malice. Basically, more foreshadowing.

**Dead or Barren Fields**

The fields of flowers turned dead and barren when the flowers died off, therefore signifying lack, pessimism and Seto's jaded prospects for the future.

**Anyway, I hope this helped you guys understand what I was getting at when I wrote the dream sequence and I hope that I didn't give too much away!**


	10. Brooklyn Karate 101

**Hi again everybody! I'm guessing that because I only got one review for the last chapter that it was either a) so bad that you couldn't think of anything to say b) I scared you away with my romance or c) you couldn't find the time to respond. Lol =P but that's okay I wasn't offended, I've been having some writer's block lately and my parents blew up on me because I shirked my responsibility to clean the house and took my iphone, ipod and writing privileges away! DX Welp, anyway I'm back with Chapter 9! This chapter isn't going to be like the last one and in fact it has a lot of action in it, but not too much romance, sorry! ;{ As you can tell by the title and the lyrics I picked it has a lot to do with fighting and things like that. Anyhow, crack open that Pepsi or whatever you're drinking and let's get to it!**

_Disclaimer: I have no right to claim Yu-Gi-Oh! as my own as it does not belong to me. It belongs to the artistic genius, Kazuki Takahashi. And the lyrics belong to Carl Douglas._

Chapter 9

Brooklyn Karate 101

_**Everybody was kung-fu fighting;**_

_**Those cats were fast as lightning;**_

_**In fact it was a little bit frightening;**_

_**But they fought with expert timing;**_

_**They were funky China men from funky Chinatown;**_

_**They were chopping them up and they were chopping them down;**_

_**It's an ancient Chinese art and everybody knew their part;**_

_**From a feint into a slip, and kicking from the hip;**_

_**Everybody was kung-fu fighting;**_

_**Those cats were fast as lightning;**_

_**In fact it was a little bit frightening;**_

_**But they did it with expert timing;**_

…_**make sure you have expert timing;**_

_**Kung-fu fighting, had to be fast as lightning.**_

_**-Kung-Fu Fighting; Carl Douglas-**_

Aislynn stood just outside the gates of the Kaiba Mansion, the cool night air ruffling her tied tresses. She was waiting for Joey to show up so they could go on their date and he could teach her how to fight. Joey still didn't know she lived with Kaiba, in fact instead of them walking to school together, she had picked him up in her limousine at his apartment on her way to school. Seto would probably be furious if he knew they were riding to school together, but probably not as furious as he had been when she told him she had a date with Mr. Joseph Wheeler.

The past week living with her new housemates had been wonderful, Seto's wounds had started to heal up and she finally deemed him good enough to go back to work and school on Wednesday though she knew he would have preferred Tuesday. It wasn't until Thursday night that she remembered that she had a date with Joey the next day. They had all been at the dining table, eating bread bowls of clam chowder when she had decided to speak up.

"_So, anyway I have to tell you all something." _She began. Seto didn't look up from his soup, he just simply said,

"_Go on."_

"_It's about tomorrow night…"_ She had paused, thinking of how she would word her sentences so Seto wouldn't make a big deal out of it.

"_Yes?"_ He droned, a little irritated as he stopped what he was doing to give her his full attention.

"_Um, well you see, I had this previous engagement that I had planned before I moved in here…"_

"_And?" _He prodded, wondering what she had planned that was so important.

"_I'm going to have dinner with a gentleman." _She said simply, knowing that it was only a half-truth, Joey wasn't really what one would call a "gentleman".

"_Oh really? Who is this "gentleman"? He wouldn't happen to belong to the nerd parade would he?" _He asked, she could tell he was more than a tad jealous. She realized he was talking about Yugi and the others and she smiled guiltily, her eyes weren't all that great at telling pretty lies either. _"It's not that snake Devlin is it?"_ He'd asked, obviously he'd noticed how much of a womanizer Duke Devlin really was. She shook her head,

"_No, no don't worry I'm not going out with Duke." _

"_Then who is it!?"_ He demanded, growing impatient. She cringed as she said his name,

"_Joey Wheeler."_ He spit out his soup and looked at her like she was nuts. He started laughing hysterically, not believing for one second that Aislynn would think to go out with someone like Wheeler.

"_The mutt? Are you serious? Tell me this is some kind of joke!" _ Aislynn looked down into her soup feeling a little ashamed. It was then that Seto knew that she wasn't kidding. His mocking smile turned down into a harsh, disapproving frown. _"Do whatever you want, just don't bring that dog onto my property. You'll soon realize that Wheeler's not worth your time."_ That was the last thing he said before stomping off angrily to his office.

Aislynn checked her watch again, clicking her heels together anxiously. She was dressed very casually, a little too casual to go out to dinner. She'd had to borrow clothes from the Kaiba brothers since she had completely forgotten to go shopping. All of her clothes were to fancy for this outing and she didn't want to feel like she was showing up her new friends. She was wearing Mokuba's sneakers, a pair of his shorts and one of his black hoodies. Of course, Mokuba's clothes had run a little small on her; the shorts that came down to Mokuba's knees were riding up a little on her bottom. Unfortunately Mokuba didn't have any tops that would fit her correctly and she ended up having to borrow one of Seto's white button-up shirts which she had tucked into her too-short shorts and rolled up its sleeves because it ran at least three sizes too big. Seto had casually handed it to her after he'd seen her try on a few of Mokuba's t-shirts, an amused smirk on his handsome face. The shirt was heavily scented with his cologne and it made her wonder if this was some sort of attempt to put his mark on her. She suddenly shielded her eyes as the twin beams of light flashed into her eyes and she saw the maroon-colored Jeep making its way down the street.

* * *

Kaiba looked out his office window as the middle-class Jeep stopped in front of his home. He saw Wheeler and Taylor get out of the car to greet Aislynn, seemingly amazed that she was living there. Kaiba quickly retreated to his laptop computer, remembering the small camera he had placed on Aislynn's little blue backpack. She carried it with her everywhere she went so it was only logical to place one there. The camera was implanted in the eye of the blue eyes white dragon patch he had glued there last night. She had obviously seen it and wondered where it had come from, but she hadn't asked any questions. He'd put it there to make sure that the mutt kept his dirty paws to himself. He tapped into the camera's vision and immediately heard the voices of Wheeler and Taylor.

"So, this is how debutantes dress?" Wheeler asked.

"No, it really isn't, I just didn't want you to feel awkward or uncomfortable if I chose to wear something more decadent." Aislynn answered.

'_**Pfft, why go all the way for Wheeler? He'll never amount to anything.'**_ Kaiba thought, then it hit him, maybe Aislynn really likes the mutt. _**'How could she?'**_ He thought, just seduce him like that and then run off with that trashy, low class, poor excuse for a duelist? Maybe she was baiting him, he thought, maybe she was playing hard to get by trying to make him jealous? _**'She'll have to try harder than that.'**_ He thought, he wasn't jealous of Wheeler in the slightest, he thought of him as repulsive if anything. If she was going to make _him _jealous she'd have to date some rich, well-to-do gentleman who was everything he couldn't be.

* * *

"Aww, it wouldn't have been too awkward, I would've felt honored to be in the presence of a high-class lady!" Joey laughed. Aislynn had definitely dressed a little too casual for this event. He should have warned her and asked her to dress nice. He and Tristan were both dressed up in nice dress shirts and ties. He was actually very surprised to see her dressed like a tomboy, he'd expected her to dress like she did when she had to appear at political conferences or even at embassy balls; He obviously didn't know her very well. Well, he thought, it's not about how a girl dresses, its how she presents herself as a person. Aislynn was still a very pretty girl even _with_ her offensive choice of attire.

"Anyway, I am only borrowing these from the Kaiba brothers."

"Kaiba wears daisy dukes?" Tristan asked. She shook her head,

"No, actually these are Mokuba's shorts." Their eyes widened,

"Whoa, you must be like really skinny, you can fit into a 7th grader's shorts?" Tristan asked.

"Well it wasn't easy; I had to suck in my breath just to button them." She smiled guiltily. There was a long awkward pause before Joey finally said,

"Okay, I guess we should get going, my sister's waiting." Aislynn got into the passenger seat before asking,

"You have a sister? Why didn't you mention her before?"

"Eh, I guess the subject never came up." He answered, "It's her birthday today, and we're going to take her out."

"Aww, that's so sweet, but why did you want me to come? I don't even know your sister's name." Joey shifted the Jeep into a higher gear before replying,

"I wanted you to meet her, she lives with my mom in another town and I don't really get to see her too much. My mom brought Serenity here to Domino so we wouldn't have to travel too far, she usually doesn't do that." Aislynn laughed nervously at the mention of Joey's mom,

'_**Great, I'm going to make a fool out of myself in front of my friend's mother with these clothes...*sigh* I guess that's just my luck.'**_ She thought to herself,

"So your sister's name is Serenity?" She asked,

"Yeah, do you have any brothers or sisters?" He asked her. She shook her head,

"Not any that I know of, but when my mom was younger, before she married my dad she was married to an aspiring American rockstar. I don't remember who he was, but I believe that he overdosed on heroine not too long ago. He was quite famous in the states."

"Wait, your mom was married to a rockstar?" Tristan asked from the back seat, "Then how did she get to be the Prime Minister's wife?" Aislynn smiled, she had always loved this story as a child.

"Well you see, my mother wasn't born with a silver spoon in her mouth like I was. In fact, she came from a normal, middle class family in Osaka, Japan."

"Really, Osaka?" Joey asked, she nodded her head,

"Yes, I was told she was really wild in high school. My mother slept with her first boyfriend and she got herself pregnant with twins, can you imagine that?" The other two were awkward silent at the confession and waited for her to continue. She giggled at their shock, "So anyway, my grandparents didn't like that and they actually estranged her from the family and kicked her out of the house because they were sick of putting up with her delinquent behavior. So she ended up getting a job as a waitress and having to take care of two little girls all by herself because her boyfriend had basically run away from his responsibilities. My mother had never really been very good in school so there was no way she could get into college with her grades. But she realized that she needed to get a better job if she wanted to continue to support her children. Her opportunity came in the form of a flyer advertising that a record company was searching for fresh new singing talent. She used to sing karaoke all the time when she still attended school, she loved to sing so she decided this might be the perfect opportunity for her to get money fast. She went to the auditions and they accepted her. She tried to make a name for herself as a star, but nobody wanted to listen to her music, they all claimed that her music was too "woe is me" and that everyone back then wanted to dance, not feel sorry for themselves. It was when she was working those two jobs and taking care of children that she decided that she couldn't do it anymore. Her children were miserable and she just couldn't provide for them anymore." She paused, causing Joey to speak up,

"So, what happened to the twins?" He asked.

"My mother sent them to an orphanage so they could be adopted by parents who could afford them. She didn't want to do it, no mother does, but she reasoned that it would be better than for them to grow up with nothing."

"How old were they?" Tristan asked.

"According to my father, my mother said they were only two years old at the time, so they probably don't even really remember it. So anyway after that she began working with the record company full time, as a singer and dance choreographer. However it was a while before she began to produce music people liked to listen to and sometimes she even went hungry. But before long she was at the top of the music charts in Japan."

"What was your mother's name?" Joey asked.

"Her name was Sayuri, Sayuri Yumiko."

"Oh, my mom has some of her music! That was your mother? She was smokin' hot!" Tristan riled, leaning over the front seat. Aislynn laughed,

"Well thank-you, I'm glad you thought so! So anyway, how did she become the Prime Minister's wife even after all that?" Aislynn asked rhetorically, "Well, when she met the American rockstar, the only language she knew was Japanese so she couldn't really communicate with him. So he dedicated himself to learning her language and also helped her learn to speak English."

"Why would he go through all that trouble to impress a girl?" Joey asked, clueless as always about romantic affairs. She sighed,

"Because to him she wasn't just any girl, she was someone he could relate to and share his feelings with. I do not know his story, but I am told that he shared similar hardships in his life as well. So the two hit it off right away and went on tour together, this was when she started producing her first English album. She earned tons of money from this endeavor and fell in love with the American. The two then got married and moved to New York City where they had a little girl. But unfortunately however happy their lives seemed, there were always ups and downs to their relationship. It was when her husband got involved in drugs that she decided to leave him. Their child however did not want to go and Sayuri left her with her father like she wanted, yet she had always wondered if she had made the right choice. She moved back to Japan but she lived in Tokyo, not wishing to relive her past in Osaka. Now that she was a star, she was allowed in all of the exclusive rich parties, which she frequented at least twice a week. It was at one of these parties that she met my father. My father was a big fan of hers and really liked her music, even the "woe is me" songs, in fact if I remember correctly he liked those ones a lot more than the upbeat ones…" She paused shaking her head in remembrance, "They became really good friends and went partying together when they weren't working. My father had always wanted to find a woman and settle down, but he would have never guessed that the woman he settled down with would be a starlet. And so the two decided to get married and a year later they had me. And that's the story." She finished as they pulled up to a Chinese restaurant where a young girl and her mother were waiting for them. Joey jumped out of the car and threw a hug around the young girl, startling her mother. Aislynn watched them for a moment, realizing how happy Joey was to see her.

'_**He must really adore her.'**_ She thought, a smile spreading across her face. Tristan and Joey were waving her over to get out of the car and come meet Serenity. Aislynn hesitantly got out of the car, immediately embarrassed at what she was wearing and extremely envious at what Serenity was wearing. Serenity wore a short, pale yellow dress, with lace that lined the hem, the spaghetti straps and even the yellow ribbon in her hair. Compared to everyone else, Aislynn felt tremendously under-dressed.

"Serenity, I want you to meet our new friend, Miss Aislynn Mirasaki." Serenity and her mom's eyes widened at the mention of her name,

"Mirasaki?" Serenity said, looking up at her mom, "Mom, isn't that-

"Oh, it's a pleasure to meet you Miss Mirasaki; I was a huge fan of your mother back in the day." Serenity's mom said, merrily shaking her hand. Aislynn smiled; maybe her clothes wouldn't matter after all.

"Thank-you, it's a pleasure to meet you as well." She replied with the grace of a lady.

"Hi there, I'm Joey's sister, Serenity." Serenity said, introducing herself.

"It's an honor to meet you." Aislynn replied, bowing slightly in respect. Serenity stared at the girl in awe; she couldn't believe who was standing before her, and in common street clothes!

"So are you wearing that to hide from the paparazzi?" Serenity asked. Aislynn looked down at herself then shook her head in denial,

"Oh, no no no, you see originally Joey said he was going to teach me how to be a street-fighter, I didn't know at the time that we'd be having dinner with you, Tristan or your mother."

"A street-fighter?" Serenity asked, looking at Joey.

"Yeah, Aislynn's having trouble with this bully at school and I wanted to teach her some moves so she can defend herself, that's all." Joey answered.

"Well, you kids have fun on your little date, I've got some shopping to do, I'll see you back here at 10 o'clock alright?" Serenity's mom said, looking at Joey to make sure he'd heard her.

"Ah, don't worry mom, we'll stay out of trouble, I promise and I'll have Serenity back here by ten." Joey answered. Satisfied their mother nodded,

"Alright," She kissed Serenity on the forehead, "you kids have fun now." She called, walking back to her car.

"Don't worry we will!" Serenity called back. They watched Joey and Serenity's mom drive off before going into the restaurant.

* * *

The restaurant was really nice and the food was indeed expensive. Aislynn had asked Joey how he was able to afford all of this; he just smiled and said that the bus boy owed him. A small cake with a candle in it was brought to their table and the staff sang happy birthday to Serenity. Serenity, being the thoughtful person she was, cut her cake into sections and gave everyone a piece. They were all stuffed when they left the restaurant and Aislynn found herself having to unbutton her shorts. It wasn't until they all got back into the Jeep when Serenity asked,

"Joey, where can we go next?" She exclaimed excitedly, all hyped up on sugar.

"Hmm, well first I wanted to stop at the pet shop." He said, looking back at her. She gasped excitedly,

"Really!? You're going to let me get a pet?" Joey shrugged his shoulders,

"Sure, why not?" Serenity threw her arms around his shoulders from the back seat, hugging him tightly. Aislynn was smiling at their display of affection, thinking it to be extremely endearing. Tristan was in the back seat rubbing his stomach,

"Uh, you guys I think I ate too much." He groaned. They all laughed.

They soon arrived at the pet shop and Serenity jumped out of the car almost immediately, Joey not too far behind her. Aislynn got out a little later with a bloated Tristan in tow. Soon enough Serenity was standing in front of a pen full of puppies, trying to decide which one she wanted. She ultimately decided on an adorable male golden retriever puppy with a large red and gold bow around his neck.

"Joey, I want this one!" She exclaimed, hugging the puppy tightly. Joey laughed at her eagerness,

"Okay, what are you gonna call him?" He asked.

"Hmm," She thought, looking down at the furry ball of cuteness nuzzling her neck, "how about Rover?"

"Alright, Rover it is." Joey said. They paid the man at the cash register, and then headed off again in the Jeep.

"So, now what should we do sis?" Joey asked her again. Serenity put her finger to her lips in as if in deep thought, trying to figure out what to do next.

"Aww, isn't she cute?" Tristan cooed. Aislynn giggled at Tristan's obvious affection for Serenity and Serenity glared at Tristan,

"Tristan, Rover's a boy not a girl." She said, hugging the puppy to her and not getting the fact that he had been talking about her. Serenity's head snapped up as she finally thought of where they should go. "Joey, I've got it! Let's go to that karaoke place downtown!" Joey sighed in dismay,

"Karaoke huh? You really wanna go that badly?" He asked, hoping she'd change her mind.

"Well, I've wanted to check it out for a really long time and this is the only day I'll be here in town for a while…" Serenity pouted to her older brother. Joey groaned, complying with her wishes.

"Alright, we'll go." Serenity giggled,

"Yay!"

When they got there Joey paid for everyone but Tristan, telling him he'd have to pay his own way because he was running low on funds. It was a half-hour later when Tristan and Serenity were singing a duet that Aislynn reminded Joey of their fighting lessons.

"You promised you'd teach me how to fight remember?" She pouted, crossing her arms. Joey rolled his eyes dejectedly, too many women wanted his attention at once and instead of it being extremely endearing, it was extremely exhausting! He sighed,

"I guess I did kind of promise you that didn't I?" She nodded, "Alright, let's go find somewhere to practice. Tristan!" He called, interrupting the song,

"What do you want Joey? You're messing up our song!" Tristan declared through the microphone.

"Aislynn and I are gonna go practice some fighting moves; we'll catch up with you guys later!" Joey shouted over the music.

"Whatever!" Tristan shouted back.

Aislynn's eyes widened in surprise as Joey was suddenly leading her by the wrist out of the karaoke bar. Once outside, Joey looked around for a good spot to practice,

"Aha! Over there at the park! It's perfect!" He exclaimed, dragging her along with him.

They made their way to an empty picnic table and Aislynn set down her stuff. Meanwhile, Joey ripped his necktie off and opened the front of his dress shirt to reveal a white t-shirt underneath. He sighed with relief,

"Finally, I think that thing was cutting off my airway." Aislynn giggled, trying to imagine him at one of her fancy society parties in a tux, he probably wouldn't have lasted the night. "So, I guess we'll work on fighting stance first." He began. Joey rolled up his sleeves and got into position, "Of course, if you do happen to get attacked you probably won't be able to easily get into this position." He mused. Aislynn tried to mirror his pose,

"Like this?" She asked, unsure of herself. He chuckled,

"That's close, but here let me show you." He said, coming up behind her to show her what she was doing wrong. "Okay, your feet are a little too close together, this leg needs to come back here," He said, moving her left leg back into position. "And your arms need to be locked into position, they can't be held loosely or else your opponent's gonna get in on ya." She nodded, tensing as he helped her lock her arms in place. Joey hadn't noticed her tense up and moved around in front of her, mirroring her pose, "Okay Aislynn, show me what you got!"

Joey's lesson went on for about an hour. During that time, he taught her three different fighting stances and a number of different kickboxing and defensive maneuvers. Joey wiped the sweat off his brow, panting from their workout,

"Well, I think that's enough for now, if you keep practicing, you'll become a seasoned pro in no time." She laughed,

"Oh no, your not getting off that easily Joseph Wheeler, we're practicing that kickboxing move one more time!" She said, getting into position.

"No, please I really couldn't!" He laughed, holding up his hands in defense.

"Oh whatever!" She shouted disbelievingly as she knocked him down with the powerful kickboxing move, thinking he'd be able to defend himself with all of his experience. Apparently she'd been wrong. He was lying in the grass groaning in pain half-laughing.

"Oh my gosh! Joey are you okay!? I didn't mean to kick you so hard!" She exclaimed worriedly. Joey caught her hand and pulled her down on top of him. Aislynn squealed in surprise as she came in contact with Joey's muscular physique.

"Nah, I'm alright you didn't kick me _that_ hard." He lied, restraining a groan of pain. Dammit, that woman had a nasty kick! Joey suddenly wondered how Ushio felt after Aislynn kicked him where the sun doesn't shine. He shuddered just thinking about it. Aislynn felt his body shake and looked down at him in concern,

"Joey, are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, yeah don't worry about me I'm fine." He assured her, circling his arms around her tiny waist.

'_**She's so small and fragile,' **_He thought, _**'yet I can sense she has some kind of strength inside of her that hasn't surfaced yet. Her heart is kind and caring, yet her soul is deceiving. You cannot tell this just by looking at her, you have to know her first. But she's so pretty, her eyes are like the sparkling pools of youth you only read about in storybooks, completely turning you away from the fact that she might belong to someone else.' **_After minutes of staring into those aquamarine orbs, he shook his head, turning his face away, _**'Who am I kidding? She's too rich for my blood; to think that we could ever be together in that way is a fool's dream. And rich boy, what about him? What kind of hold does he have over Aislynn?'**_ He looked back over at her; she had turned her face away as well, blushing at their inappropriate position. Joey decided that he needed to ask this question before he tried to move their relationship any further.

"Aislynn?" She looked back over at him,

"Hmm?"

"Aislynn, what's up with you and Kaiba? I mean why are you guys living together?" Aislynn twirled the ends of her hair around her finger and bit her lip nervously at his sudden intrusion into her private affairs.

"Well, um you see, I was living at home alone for a few weeks and I just didn't feel very safe and when I went to Seto's home to check up on his wounds he asked me if I wanted to stay with him."

"So, why did you say yes?" He asked. Aislynn scrunched her eyebrows together in thought, realizing that she wasn't all that sure herself.

"I don't know, I guess that I just needed someone to be there for me and Seto happened to be in the right place at the right time."

'_**I think I might be hurting Joey's feelings.' **_Aislynn thought, he was a nice-looking guy with a good heart and lots of ambition but she just didn't feel that way about him, she thought of him as more of a friend than a lover. As for Seto, she didn't know what she felt, at this point, he was just someone that had offered to take care of her. And yet she knew she was hopelessly infatuated with Seto, she didn't know why, there was just something about him that made her heart go all aflutter, it was almost the same effect Damien used to have on her. With that thought, Aislynn got up off of Joey and offered him a hand,

"Friends?" She asked. Joey smiled and nodded, taking the hand she offered,

"Friends."

* * *

**Wow, that was really long and there is more to come! Originally this chapter was going to be longer, but I looked through it and realized it was probably a little too long! So I split the chapter in half and the second part should be coming soon! Anyway, I thought that Joey waxing poetic was a little OOC but I don't know it turned out really well and I just didn't have the heart to delete it…anyway, I promise to get back to you ASAP…if you promise to leave me a review! =D (he he gotcha! But I'm just kidding really! :])**


	11. Pay Your Dues Jounouchi

Hey there everybody! I'm back again with another exciting chapter! (insert applause here) Anyway I just want to let you know that this chappie is the continuation of the last and originally it was going to be part of that chapter but it ended up being way too long so I cut it in half and made it into two chapters! So that last one was pretty much just filler and some insight on Aislynn's deceased mother, a chapter of filler that I hope you didn't die of boredom after reading…my condolences to those of you who did…may you rest in peace. Hopefully I'll get reviews this chapter, usually when I have someone violate Aislynn or hurt a main character I get reviews hopefully it works this time! (Tee hee! =P)

_Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Ha I said it! I'd like to see you try to sue me now! (Please don't, I wouldn't have enough money to pay off a lawsuit anyway! D=) The lyrics belong to Michael Jackson, the King of Pop may he rest in peace._

Chapter 10

Pay Your Dues Jounouchi!

_**They told him don't you ever come around here;**_

_**Don't wanna see your face, you better disappear;**_

_**The fire's in their eyes and their words are really clear;**_

_**So beat it, just beat it;**_

_**You better run, you better do what you can;**_

_**Don't wanna see no blood, don't be a macho man;**_

_**You wanna be tough, better do what you can;**_

_**So beat it, but you wanna be bad;**_

_**Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it;**_

_**No one wants to be defeated;**_

_**Showin' how funky and strong is your fight;**_

_**It doesn't matter who's wrong or right;**_

_**Just beat it, beat it;**_

_**Just beat it, beat it;**_

_**Just beat it, beat it;**_

_**Just beat it, beat it;**_

_**They're out to get you better leave while you can;**_

_**Don't wanna be a boy you wanna be a man;**_

_**You wanna stay alive, better do what you can;**_

_**So beat it, just beat it;**_

_**You have to show them that you're really not scared;**_

_**You're playin' with your life, this ain't no truth or dare;**_

_**They'll kick you, then they'll beat you;**_

_**Then they'll tell you it's fair;**_

_**So beat it, but you wanna be bad;**_

_**Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it;**_

_**No one wants to be defeated;**_

_**Showin' how funky and strong is your fight;**_

_**It doesn't matter who's wrong or right.**_

_**-Beat it; Michael Jackson-**_

A tall, dark figure stood in the shadows of a nearby tree, his form shielded from the light of the moon. He watched as the two teenagers practiced fighting moves as he thought about his objective. He was to follow and observe the group of teenagers and make sure the ebony-haired heiress never left his sight. His boss's orders were to kidnap her and dispose of the others so that there would be no witnesses and therefore no one would know of her whereabouts. The boss had mentioned that someone had willingly offered to pay them handsomely for this dastardly deed. The man continued to watch them for a few moments before running off to tell his boss about their whereabouts.

* * *

"Hey Serenity, you want anything? I'm heading over to the snack shack!" Tristan called up to Serenity as she waited for her turn to sing.

"Nothing much, just get me a small bag of caramel corn!" She shouted over the loud music.

"Sure thing!" He shouted back. Tristan picked up Serenity's dog, Rover and headed over to the snack stand. "One small caramel corn, a large regular popcorn and a cherry icee." He told the attendant when it was his turn to order.

"There you go sir." The man said, handing Tristan the food. Tristan set Rover down and clipped the small red leash to his collar so he could carry all the refreshments. As he was heading back to their table, he spotted something or rather someone out of the corner of his eye. The man wore a green beanie over his blue hair, his large painted lips and round sunglasses reminding Tristan of a circus clown, the kind you find in nightmares and horror movies. His face was turned up into an evil, perverted leer as he watched Serenity on stage.

Tristan glared at the man, not liking the way he was looking at her. He then realized the man was wearing a Rintama High uniform. He knew there were quite a lot of trouble makers at Rintama High, in fact, one of the most notorious and dangerous gangs in Domino City attended Rintama High and he had a bad feeling that this guy was part of it.

Tristan waited until Serenity was finished singing before pulling her aside.

"Serenity, let's go find Joey and Aislynn I think it's about time that we met your mother." He said, handing Rover to Serenity and trying to usher her towards the door.

"O-Okay, what time is it? Is it that late already?" She asked, totally oblivious to the real situation. Tristan looked behind him but couldn't spot the man anywhere, starting to get nervous as they reached the door.

"Come on; let's just go find Joey and Aislynn." He said. Seconds later the man crossed their path, giggling gleefully.

"Goin' somewhere?" the man asked. Tristan nodded, glaring a warning at the man in front of them.

"As a matter of fact we are, now if you'd just step out of the way we can be on our way." Tristan explained to the man calmly. The man continued to stand in their path, leaning against the door and preventing their escape.

"Aww, leavin' so soon are ya? But the party's just beginning!" He giggled again. Reminding Tristan once again of a demented circus clown.

"Tristan, I'm scared." Serenity whispered as the puppy in her arms whined fearfully, sensing her anxiety. Tristan put and arm around her and held her tightly against his side to try and quell her fears.

"Sorry, but we don't have time to party, now get out of the way!" Tristan shouted. The stranger giggled again as his comrades materialized out of the shadowed corners of the theatre and surrounded them.

"Did you guys hear that? They don't wanna party with us!" Serenity wrapped her right arm around Tristan's waist and clutched Rover tightly to her chest out of fear as the thugs closed in around them. "That's too bad," the stranger continued, "the boss was really hopin' you'd join us, we wouldn't want to disappoint him now would we?" Rover began to bark and growl at the burly men closing in on them as they tried to grab Tristan and separate him from Serenity. Tristan fought them off with his free arm, keeping a tight hold on Serenity with his other. He elbowed a few in the face and nearly succeeded at getting them through safely when he was hit on the head from behind with a large metal pipe, causing Serenity to shriek as they started to drag her away. Rover yelped as they tore him from Serenity's embrace and shoved him into a pet carrier. Tristan lay bleeding, feeling nothing but the throbbing pain in his head listening to Serenity's screams as his vision faded to black.

* * *

"Thank-you for the fighting lessons Joey, I really appreciate it." Aislynn thanked him, bowing gratefully. Joey, still abashed by her respectful poise after these few weeks, scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Ah, it was nothing, really!" They both stood there awkwardly for a few seconds before Aislynn finally broke the ice,

"So I suppose we should go get Tristan and Serenity, it is time to meet with your mother isn't it?" Joey checked his wristwatch, noticing that it read, 9:45.

"Shit, we should probably get moving or my mom's gonna have a heart attack." Joey said, dragging Aislynn with him back to the karaoke theatre. They burst through the front doors only to find that they were in the absolute wrong place at the wrong time.

Tristan lay unconscious and bloody on the floor while Serenity was sitting next to him in a sobbing mess, a plastic zip tie secured around her slim wrists. Aislynn covered her face in shock at the sight of Tristan, her heart beginning to beat frantically,

"Oh my god…" She whispered. Joey bent down to his sister, tilting her chin up to look at him.

"Serenity, what happened?" She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes,

"Joey, you shouldn't be here, they're looking for you!" She cried desperately as he pulled her in close. He pulled back and held her at arm's length.

"I don't care who's looking for me, I'm gonna get you outta here before they come back." He assured her, pulling a small pocket knife from the inside of his leather jacket. He reached around her and cut the zip-tie, freeing her wrists. Serenity sat back and rubbed her sore wrists for a moment before grabbing the pet carrier with Rover inside. Joey turned to help Aislynn with Tristan but before they were able to pick him up and carry him outside, Serenity let out a frightened shriek from behind, causing everyone to flinch. The figure who had managed to grab her from behind was still hidden in shadow, though judging by his outline in the dark, he was no pushover. The figure held a pistol to her right temple and when she heard it cock Serenity's heart rate increased tenfold causing tears to stream uncontrollably down her face as she came to realize the seriousness of the situation.

"Well, look who decided to crash the party." A familiar voice laughed from beyond his wall of shadows. Joey knew that voice, it was the voice of a man he never wanted to get involved with again, and considering the situation this was probably all just a ploy to get him to do just that. The man laughed again and stepped fully into the light confirming Joey's suspicions and fears.

"Jounouchi, it's so good to see you again. Come to pay your dues?" He asked, his last few words striking fear into Joey's being.

"Hirotani, just what do you think you're doing with my sister?" Joey asked calmly, knowing that being the head of a gang of criminals, Hirotani wasn't someone you should mess around with when he has a gun to your sister's head.

"Oh, we're just having a little fun that's all, but let's not beat around the bush, what I really want is your little girlfriend over there." Aislynn's eyes widened in fear, realizing he was talking about her. Joey shoved her behind him to shield her and Hirotani laughed,

"You would really choose your girlfriend over your sister?" He guffawed, "Jounouchi I'm surprised, I think you've changed for the better!" He laughed again, this time the rest of his men joined them as they came into view.

Serenity stared at Joey with pleading eyes as Aislynn stepped in front of him to face Hirotani,

"I will agree to go along with you as long as you agree not to harm my friends." She said calmly, trying to mask the fear that she was certain showed in her eyes. Joey looked at her fearfully for he knew what Hirotani and his men were capable of doing to her.

"Aislynn no you can't! You don't know Hirotani like I do!"

"I have to Joey!" She interrupted him, "It's either that or your sister's not going to live through this night!" He looked at her with a saddened expression and let her go, watching with a heavy heart as she crossed the room to Hirotani.

Aislynn looked up into Hirotani's sickeningly pale face, leering at her as she came to stand before him.

"You must give me your word that you will not harm my friends or mark my words you will not see me go willingly." She glared up at him. He smiled down at her and thrust Serenity into Joey's arms, trading their places. He chuckled again,

"I give you my word heiress," He said, stroking her soft, ivory skin, she fought hard not to shudder in repulsion at the contact. "A young man has paid me a pretty price for your return and now I can see why." He whispered. He lifted his head and barked orders to his men, issuing them to carry Joey, Serenity and Tristan out to the car.

Once they were riding down the highway, Aislynn began to wonder who had paid them so much to kidnap her. Then a thought crossed her mind as to whom it could be,

'_**Damien?'**_ She thought. Who else would be so desperate to get their hands on her? She glared out the window in disgust, wondering faintly if the Kaiba brothers would miss her when she was gone.

* * *

Seto Kaiba sat in his office, absently twirling his pen as he contemplated whether or not to turn the computer screen back on. When he'd seen Aislynn and the dog getting all lovey-dovey in the grass he'd shut it off, unable to watch anymore. Hurt had bubbled up inside him more readily than his rage. He looked at the clock hanging on the wall; it read 10:30, a full thirty minutes after she said she'd be back. It's true, Kaiba was immensely curious as to what had happened to his new housemate but he wasn't sure he wanted to know. He twirled in his chair a few more times before he finally said,

"Ah, screw it." He flipped on the computer monitor and the speakers and immediately the room was filled with the voices of men and the sound of a moving vehicle.

"What the hell?" He thought out loud to himself. The camera he'd placed on Aislynn's backpack was on her lap, facing Joey Wheeler on the far left, his sister in the middle and Tristan Taylor on the far right, covered in blood, one of his eyes swollen shut as he glared at the men across the way from him. Aislynn was sitting in the middle of two men, one of them a big burly man who referred to Joey as Jounouchi and the other a creepy looking guy who reminded Seto of the duel monster, Saggy the Dark Clown. He turned the volume up so he could hear their conversation better.

"He agreed to meet us at the edge of town, right boss?" The clown answered.

"Yes, now shut your mouth, we don't know who could be listening." The burly man whispered back. Obviously he was some kind of crime boss or else he wouldn't be talking in such a manner, or carrying Aislynn and her friends off to what seemed like certain doom. But because Kaiba couldn't see his face, there was no way for him to really know which crime boss they were dealing with.

He knew one thing though, Aislynn was in trouble and because of his stupid hormones he was going to end up rescuing her. He could have just listened to his other half who rather thought she deserved it for choosing Joey over him, but no he chose to listen to his conscience.

He called Roland immediately and ordered him to prepare the helicopter for his use.

* * *

The ride through town was a nightmare. Aislynn sat across from Joey, Serenity and Tristan, wondering if Hirotani would really do as he said. Judging from the way Joey looked at her, she knew deep down that they weren't going to be spared any harm. Joey and Tristan both had zip ties bounding their wrists together just incase they decided to pull anything. Aislynn and Serenity's wrists were free as Hirotani and his henchmen figured they'd be no match for either of them. Aislynn looked down, sulking as she waited to meet her ex-fiancé again, or that's who she suspected was behind all this, she really didn't know. If it was him, she was going to try her hardest to get away; there was no way she'd go back to him willingly!

"Now down to business Jounouchi." Hirotani said almost casually before lighting a cigar from one of the many in his tin box.

"What do you mean business? I'm done workin' for you." Joey replied. Hirotani took a long drag on his cigar, closing his eyes in pleasure as he exhaled. He chuckled, amused at Joey's cocky attitude.

"I wouldn't be too sure of that my friend, you still have some dues that need to be paid off."

"Well, guess what, I'm through with you and your little lackeys. Didn't you learn that from our last meeting?" Joey smirked, remembering how he and Yugi dealt with them the last time. Hirotani exhaled again, this time a little impatiently, Aislynn watched as the crime boss crushed his cigar into the ashtray albeit angrily.

"Humph, we'll see…"

"Youze better not mess with Hirotani or you gonna be sleepin' with the fishes." The clown-like henchman warned.

Rover was held tightly in Serenity's arms growling at their captives when the vehicle came to a screeching stop just outside of town, causing everyone to fly forward with the impact. Hirotani let out a curse as his head was knocked against the wall of the vehicle.

"What the hell's going on!?" He shouted at the driver. The driver looked back at him nervously,

"Um, i-it a-appears to be a KaibaCorp helicopter sir!" He stuttered nervously. Hirotani looked through the window angrily spotting a tall figure wearing a stark white trench coat walking towards them. Hirotani growled angrily as he recognized the figure and grabbed Serenity, hauling her out of the automobile. The clown-looking henchman took a loaded pistol out of his pocket and gestured for Aislynn to step out of the car as well, quickly taking a hold of her as they got out. Tristan and Joey yelled in protest and fear as the door was shut and barred against them.

"The child lock's on!" Tristan wailed. Joey beat his bound wrists against the door angrily as he watched Seto Kaiba walk towards them.

"Seto!" Aislynn called in relief as the clown-like man held her in his chokehold, a silver revolver pressed to her right temple.

'_**Oh, why does this kind of thing always happen to me?'**_ She thought, squirming in the man's painful chokehold.

"Don't come any closer unless you wanna see her pretty brains splattered all over the road!" The clown-like man cackled. Seto stopped in his tracks, finally realizing whom he was dealing with.

"You're Hirotani, the leader of that Rintama High gang!" Hirotani chuckled,

"I'm surprised you know me Mr. Kaiba, been dealing in the slums lately?" Kaiba laughed as if the notion were preposterous. Aislynn looked at him curiously,

'"_**Dealing in the slums"? What's he talking about?'**_

"What makes you think someone like me would go slumming?" Kaiba smirked disbelievingly.

"I don't think it, I know it." Hirotani smirked confidently. Kaiba frowned,

"That was years ago, I know you from the police reports saying what a cowardly little rat you are."

"Ah ah ah," Hirotani chided as he cocked his gun, "if I were you I'd be careful what I say Mr. Kaiba, you don't want their blood on your hands do you?" Aislynn heard the henchman who held her cock his gun before hearing tapping on the car door window, it was Joey. She couldn't hear him of course, the glass was soundproof, but she could make out what he was trying to tell her. Apparently he wanted her to perform one of the defensive kickboxing moves they practiced.

"_I'm too frightened." _ She lip-synced. Joey gave her a reassuring look and a thumbs up to go for it. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath to calm herself before she went through with it.

Kaiba looked at the two girls held at gunpoint, Serenity was trying her hardest not to burst into tears her fear was very evident in the delicate features of her face. Aislynn on the other hand didn't seem so frightened, or if she was she gave no sign of it. She held herself with calm composure and she stared back at him with this determined fire in her eyes the likes of which he'd never seen on any woman. The look she gave him was so intense he actually felt himself back up a few steps out of fear.

Hirotani cried out in pain as Serenity's retriever puppy suck its teeth into him and held on with its small jaws, causing him to drop the gun he was holding. The henchman who held Aislynn therefore loosened his grip in distraction, giving Aislynn the incentive she needed. She kicked her foot back and up as hard as she could into the most sensitive part of the male anatomy, causing her captor to release her and stumble backwards in excruciating pain. She twisted his wrist none too gently, making him hand over his revolver as she elbowed him in the face and knocked him to the ground. She kicked Hirotani's gun out of the way before pointing the revolver at their kidnappers. The clown-like henchman was still wailing in pain from his fractured wrist, broken nose and the swift kick to the groin while Hirotani glared up at her, wrapping his bleeding hand in the cloth of his t-shirt. Hirotani chuckled,

"Do you even know how to use that thing?" Aislynn flicked the pistol and checked it for bullets before spinning the revolver and cocking it like an expert gun fighter.

"My father taught me when I was very young; you can bet I know how to use it." Hirotani stared up at her, her eyes were different, he thought, they no longer wore their façade of innocence. They had changed from aquamarine blue to a bright sea green and they stared down wildly at him as if she wanted to rip out his throat and drink his blood. Once she saw Hirotani's eyes fill with terror she laughed maniacally, almost hysterically, acting as if Serenity and Kaiba weren't there watching the whole thing.

"Do I scare you?" She cooed, kneeling down and pointing the gun to Hirotani's temple. Her smile immediately turned into a frown of warning, her eyes full of that intense hatred again,

"You come near any of us ever again and you'll end up worse than your friend over there." She whispered so only he could hear, "I'll make sure to kick you so hard they never drop again." She threatened, glancing down at his crotch area to make her point.

The clown-like henchman reached for Hirotani's gun as Aislynn was getting back up, she allowed him to grab the gun only to blow it out of his hand without even flinching. The man clutched his hand in pain,

"You bitch!" He wailed. She walked over and opened the car door for Joey and Tristan, knocking the henchman unconscious as she did so.

"Ha Ha!" Joey laughed and pointed at Hirotani, "Nice job Aislynn, couldn't have done it better myself!" He said as Aislynn began sawing the plastic zip ties bounding his wrists together. Once he was free he wound his arms around Aislynn's waist and planted a forcefully claiming kiss upon her lips, causing her to cry out in surprise at the unwelcome-but not entirely unpleasant-attention. It was over in a flash and immediately she looked around as if she didn't know where she was. Her innocent demeanor had instantly returned as soon as the kiss was finished.

"That was hot." Joey whispered lustily, licking his lips as he stared down at her, his eyes glazed over with desire. She looked up at Kaiba who was now towering over them with a disgusted sneer on his lips.

"There wasn't anything you just said or did that didn't make me want to kill you." He glowered, the comment directed at Joey. Joey laughed nervously, his hands still firmly planted on Aislynn's buttocks. She felt him squeeze one of her cheeks and her expression turned to one of outraged embarrassment.

"E-Excuse me!" She said, grabbing his hands and holding them away from her as a dark red blush dusted across her cheeks.

"Oh, sorry about that." Joey laughed again, no shame whatsoever on his face. Seto sighed in exasperation at Wheeler's attempts to get at Aislynn,

"Let's just go home." He said, leading the way to the helicopter.

* * *

All five of them got into the helicopter, Kaiba and Aislynn on one side, Joey, Serenity and Tristan on the other. Kaiba sat looking out the window as the others talked about how Joey was going to get reprimanded by his mother for being two hours late. He thought about what had happened, trying to grasp it. It was so unlike the Aislynn he had known over the past few weeks. One moment she was her normal usual self and the next minute she was pouncing on her kidnappers like a wild tigress whose cubs had just been snatched by poachers. She had actually been able to intimidate him, and there were few if any who possessed the power to do that. As much as she had frightened him, he couldn't mistake the feelings of arousal he had received after he had watched her take control of the situation, her black hair flowing wildly over her shoulders, those intense sea-green eyes-

'_**Wait a second, sea-green? Aislynn's eyes are aquamarine blue…'**_ He thought to himself, looking over at her and confirming the latter. _**'This doesn't make any sense; I could have sworn her eyes were green!' **_He shook his head, _**'It's probably just the way I was looking at her, that's all.'**_ He assured himself. But what had made her act that way? Survival instinct? Dangerous situations did have the power to change a person dramatically but she wouldn't snap back to reality so fast. No, Kaiba concluded, he had a gut feeling that this went way deeper than some survival instinct.

* * *

Aislynn sighed as her and Kaiba entered the Kaiba Mansion at nearly one o'clock in the morning. She lifted her arms into the air and stretched,

"Well, I'll see you in the morning." She said, smiling at him sleepily. He caught her before she reached the top of the staircase.

"Aislynn." He called softly.

"Hmm?"

"If I'm not mistaken you owe me a shift at KaibaCorp." He smirked, reminding her of when she made him stay home from work. She smiled from cheek to cheek, showing off her pearly whites,

"Alright, I suppose I do. What time?" She asked, barely able to keep her eyes open. He tried his hardest not to laugh at her attempts to stay awake.

"Never mind about that, just go get some sleep and I'll get you a job in the afternoon." He told her, following her up the stairs to his own bedroom.

* * *

**That took so much longer than I expected, and I apologize! Anyway, I know I used Joey's Japanese name, Jounouchi but it sounded so much cooler than having Hirotani say Wheeler. And if you are unfamiliar with Hirotani and such I will explain: Hirotani was in season 0 and the manga and basically he and Joey used to be in a gang together in middle school and instead of going to class they you know did gang stuff…anyway Joey and Hirotani went to separate schools and Joey quit the gang. However Hirotani later plots to get Joey back by threatening to hurt his friends. Joey ends up joining their gang again but with the help of Yugi or actually Yami Yugi, they basically kick ass and Yami deals out a punishment game to Hirotani and his henchmen. Okay then, see yas! Don't forget to leave me a parting gift, a review would be nice, but whatever floats your boat! =D**


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